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diff --git a/old/69588-0.txt b/old/69588-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index ab74812..0000000 --- a/old/69588-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6835 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The romance of the Canadian Pacific -Railway, by R. G. MacBeth - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The romance of the Canadian Pacific Railway - -Author: R. G. MacBeth - -Release Date: December 20, 2022 [eBook #69588] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Al Haines, Jen Haines & the online Distributed Proofreaders - Canada team at https://www.pgdpcanada.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROMANCE OF THE CANADIAN -PACIFIC RAILWAY *** - - - - - - - - [Cover Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration: - _Mount Sir Donald and Illecillewaet Glacier_ - _Lake Louise_ - _Moraine Lake_ - _The Bow River Valley and Banff Springs Hotel_ - - _Typical Canadian Pacific Scenery_] - - - - - The Romance - _of the_ Canadian - Pacific Railway - - _By_ - R. G. MacBETH - - _Author of “The Making of the Canadian West,”_ - _“The Romance of Western Canada,” Etc._ - - THE RYERSON PRESS - TORONTO - - - - - * * * * * - - Copyright, Canada, 1924, by - THE RYERSON PRESS - - - - - CONTENTS - - ────────────────────────────────────────── - - Chapter Page - - I. Famous Forerunners 1 - - II. The Approach to a Great Task 11 - - III. Giants in Action 18 - - IV. The Chariot Wheels Drag 33 - - V. Getting Up Speed 43 - - VI. A Great Adventure 53 - - VII. The New Company 67 - - VIII. A Constructive Genius 79 - - IX. Crossing the Prairie 94 - - X. Battling for Life 110 - - XI. Ocean to Ocean 129 - - XII. Guardians of the Road 151 - - XIII. Intensive and Extensive Work 164 - - XIV. The Guiding Hands 181 - - XV. The Wonders of the Deep 207 - - XVI. War Service 220 - - XVII. The Floodtide of Wheat 235 - - XVIII. Special Features 245 - - - - - ILLUSTRATIONS - ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── - - Page - - Typical Canadian Pacific Scenery _Fron - tispi - ece_ - The Bow River Valley and Banff Springs Hotel; Lake - Louise; Mount Sir Donald and Illecillewatt Glacier; - Moraine Lake. - - Early Builders 76 - Lord Mount Stephen, First President; Sir William Van - Horne, First General Manager and Second President; Lord - Shaughnessy, Early Financier and Third President. - - An Interesting Group 93 - Lord Shaughnessy, Lord Strathcona (Donald A. Smith), - Lady Strathcona. - - The Present Management 188 - E. W. Beatty, President; Grant Hall, Vice-President; - I. G. Ogden, Vice-President of Finance; W. R. McInnes, Vice- - President in Charge of Traffic; A. D. Mactier, Vice-President, - Eastern Lines; D. C. Coleman, Vice-President, Western Lines; - Sir George McLaren Brown, European General Manager. - - Former Officers 205 - The late David McNicoll, Vice-President and General - Manager; the late R. B. Angus. - - Recent Developments 252 - The Bassano Dam; the Brooks Aqueduct; Supply Farm at - Strathmore, Alberta; Canadian Pacific Docks at Quebec. - - - - - * * * * * - - _The Romance of the Canadian_ - _Pacific Railway_ - - * * * * * - - - - - THE ROMANCE OF THE - CANADIAN PACIFIC - RAILWAY - - - - - CHAPTER I - Famous Forerunners - - -The fascination for studying the genesis of things that exist seems to -be universal. Men have an instinctive and urgent desire to find out how -objects that are seen actually originated. Scientists and savages alike, -for instance, are still hammering out theories as to the process by -which the world was made, though to most of us the most ancient account -is adequate. Once I knew an Indian boy on the prairie who was so curious -to discover how the figure of a dog appeared at the centre of a large -glass “marble” we were playing with, that when I had turned away for a -moment, he broke it open with the back of a tomahawk. Similarly, we have -known exploring scientists who spent laborious lives in the endeavour to -find the sources of a great river. - -To be indifferent to the beginnings of things which have become part of -our lives, betokens either the calamitous absence of a thinking mind or -that horrible satisfaction with present possession which ignores the -toil and the tears and the sacrifices of past generations. To persons of -such vacant or selfish natures all the explorers and the pioneers—the -men whose souls yearned beyond the sky-line of their immediate -surroundings—are of no particular account. The untrodden ways which -daring pathfinders opened up with adventurous feet are of no consequence -to the unthinking who settle comfortably on lands pre-empted by the -blood-marked footsteps of the trailmakers. - -It is because we are not of the number who are sodden with crass -materialism and seared by the branding iron of greed, that we desire to -learn the history of the things which minister to our continued -existence and comfort in this great new day, the far-off vision of which -made glad the brave seers and workers of earlier times. - -These thoughts come to me now just as I am riding westward on the public -observation car of a Canadian Pacific Railway train, through the great -mountains that are piled up on the sunset verge of the Dominion of -Canada. The traditional weariness of travel is practically banished by -these wheeled palaces, which that living, breathing, throbbing -locomotive, under the skilful direction of her driver, draws through -passes and tunnels and glorious river canyons down to the Western sea. -And I thought of how, in times gone by, that Western Sea had been in the -dreams of gallant men who hoped to reach its shores some day. I recalled -how noble sea-rovers, like Henry Hudson and Sir John Franklin, had -thrown away their lives in the attempt to find a North-west Passage by -water across the North American continent, from the Atlantic. And I -remembered, too, how Alexander MacKenzie, the fur-trader, starting by -trail from near the old Peace River Crossing, had gone over the -mountains on foot, and how he wrote on a rock by the Pacific the amazing -inscription, “Alexander MacKenzie, from Canada, by land, July 22nd, -1793.” We call that inscription amazing because behind it and flashing -through it is the story of an invincible will in heroic action and the -record of physical daring unsurpassed in the palmiest days of the -athletes and gladiators in Greece and Rome. - -Thus did Alexander MacKenzie blaze the trail across the mountains. If -the North-west Passage by water had proved a myth, MacKenzie -demonstrated the reality of a passage by land which, in the years -afterwards, others would follow. Strange, too, it was that in the same -year, 1793, Captain George Vancouver, an English sea-rover, dropped the -anchor of his wooden, white-winged vessel in the great harbour where -there is now a queenly city bearing his name, on the West Coast of -Canada. - -Little did these adventurous pathfinders who discovered mountain passes -and ocean lanes think that, before a century had passed, a group of men -with vision and courage would follow the inspiring example of the -explorers by land and sea, and achieve not only the crossing of a -continent, but the girdling of the earth in a magnificent transportation -system. Yet despite the gloomy prophecies of failure uttered by sceptics -who declared that the thing could not be done, the Canadian Pacific -Railway has driven its iron horses through the mountains to stand by the -Western Sea. And from the land terminals, East and West, this unique -organization has set its vessels on the tides of all the oceans of the -world, as well as upon the gentler waters of our inland seas. - -There were many weighty reasons for the building of this railway and the -launching of its great ships, as well as highly important considerations -which demand its continued efficiency in our times. Let us study them -together in this book, which, as an eye witness of the genesis and -development of the railway, though never at any time connected with it, -I have written and published independently, as a humble contribution to -our history as a British Dominion. Like my preceding books, it is sent -out because generations arise which ought to know with what hazard and -struggle on the part of the pioneers the foundations of Canada were -laid. - -The name of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company fixes in our minds the -original objects of the road. The Railway was particularly the outcome -of a new national consciousness in Canada, arising out of Confederation, -and it was designed with the special idea of knitting the older parts of -Canada in the East with the newer provinces and territories which were -growing up in the wide West, and which would some day form an integral -part of a Dominion whose Western border would rest on the Pacific tide. -“Westward the star of empire takes its way” is a saying which has found -historical support in the descent of the centuries from the immemorial -East, which is now a graveyard of ancient kingdoms. And once the prows -of exploring vessels struck the Eastern shores of this new continent of -America, there were unresting souls that pressed onward throughout the -years till they reached the pillars of the sunset beside the alluring -Western sea. - -In those earlier years Spain was a great sea-going nation and the West -Coast map of the United States is dotted all over with Spanish -nomenclature. This is found also to some degree on the long coastline of -what is now British Columbia, though in this latter region the British -element was always more pronounced owing to the British blood of the -early explorers, both by sea and land, and to the passionate patriotism -of British-born men who were in the employ of the great fur-trading -organizations. In this connection it is interesting to recall the origin -of the name British Columbia. The territory now covered by the province -consisted originally of Vancouver Island and other islands and the -mountain mainland, at one time known as New Caledonia. It was good Queen -Victoria who gave the name of British Columbia to the great mainland -area, and this name was later extended to include Vancouver Island when -both were united in one colony in 1866. The Queen wrote in 1858 to Sir -E. Bulwer Lytton, statesman and novelist too, that the only name she -found on the map of the mainland common to the whole area was Columbia, -but as there was a Columbia in South America and as the United States -people called their country Columbia, at least in poetry, the Queen -thought that British Columbia would be the most suitable name. And -British Columbia it remains to this day, proud to have been named by our -noble Queen and to have sprung from so illustrious an ancestry. Later -on, British Columbia, as we shall see, proved magnetic enough to draw -the steel of the great railway across the continent to the Western -Ocean. - -On the general subject, it may be well to remind our readers that a -railway with its locomotive steam engine is a comparatively modern -arrangement for travel, although trucks of various kinds were wheeled on -tracks in the coal mining regions of England two centuries ago. But -George Stephenson, rugged old Scot, with his primitive engine, the -“Rocket,” began as late as 1829, a revolution in modes of travel. There -lived in Manitoba, some years ago, an old railroader, Charles Whitehead, -Senior, who was said to have taken a hand in making the “Rocket” go. -Stephenson’s invention was not a flash in the pan, or, to change the -figure, it did not “go up like a rocket and come down like a stick.” It -stayed, and not only won the prize of £500 for a steam engine that would -actually run and draw, but it became the fruitful progenitor of the -moguls and other colossal “fire-wagons” which rush to and fro on a -gridironed earth in our time. Of course, Stephenson, like all other -originators of new means of transport since the days of Noah, had to -bear the sneers and jocularities of the idle crowd. Some one asked him -what would happen if a cow got on the track, just as Nehemiah’s enemies -suggested disaster to his wall if a fox ran upon it. But the grim old -Scot only replied that it “would be bad for the coo,” and went on to -perfect his engine. Hence came the graceful iron horses which, with -steaming breath, race along the steel trails in all countries in our -time. - -Canada had not begun as a Confederation when the first prophecy—an -astonishing foretelling—of the Canadian Pacific Railway was made by -Joseph Howe, in Halifax, in 1851. Canada was then simply the old Central -Provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Down by the Atlantic, Prince Edward -Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were, in a sense, isolated British -possessions, which in many ways were in closer touch with the United -States on the Atlantic than with the Canada of that day. Joseph Howe had -been to London and received assurances that the Intercolonial Railway -would be built to link up the Atlantic Maritime areas with Quebec and -Ontario. But Joseph Howe, orator, poet and statesman, saw beyond that -limited plan, and in his address in Halifax in 1851 outlined in his own -masterly way the future of British North America and its immensely -important possibilities. We quote a passage of this remarkable address -as follows: - - “With such a territory as this to overrun, organize and improve, - think you that we shall stop at the Western bounds of Canada? Or - even at the shores of the Pacific? Vancouver Island, with its - vast coal measures, lies beyond. The beautiful islands of the - Pacific and the growing commerce of the ocean are beyond. - Populous China and the rich East are beyond; and the sails of - our children’s children will reflect as familiarly the sunbeams - of the South as they now brave the angry tempests of the North. - The Maritime Provinces which I now address are but the Atlantic - frontage of this boundless and prolific region. God has planted - Nova Scotia in the front of this boundless region—see that you - discharge, with energy and elevation of soul, the duties which - devolve upon you in virtue of your position. Hitherto, my - countrymen, you have dealt with this subject in a becoming - spirit, and, whatever others may think or apprehend, I know that - you will persevere in that spirit until our objects are - attained. _I am neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but - I believe that many in this room will live to hear the whistle - of the steam engine in the passes of the Rocky Mountains and to - make the journey from Halifax to the Pacific in five or six - days._” - -To some who heard this remarkable appeal and forecast it may have -sounded like the effort of a rhetorician. In reality it was the -deliberate and well-grounded hope of a man who was a life-long student -of public affairs, who had all the passion of a patriot and the fervor -of a seer, and who desired to see a great British North America in -unified devotion to the ideals of the British people. The fact that -Joseph Howe, in later years, differed from others as to whether this -Federation should be brought about without a plebiscite of the people of -Nova Scotia, does not in any way detract from the extraordinary fact -that in 1851 he prophesied a transcontinental railway, which even in -1871 some prominent public men denounced as a mad and impossible -undertaking. One has to confess that, even twenty years after Howe’s -prophecy, the thing did look impossible; but not only has the apparently -impossible project of a railroad from ocean to ocean been accomplished, -but that trans-continental has become part of a world-encircling -transportation system which is a marvel of efficiency. The Canadian -Pacific Railway not only welded together the scattered areas under the -flag on the North American Continent, but it has taken its place as an -organization of Imperial significance and value in peace and war, as -many events have proven. How and by whom this modern wonder-work has -been done it is our hope and purpose to make known in some imperfect, -but earnest, way in the chapters that follow. - -Though planned in the East, where statesmen and financiers were facing -the problems of the New Dominion, it was in the wide West-land that the -need of this transcontinental railway was most manifest, and it was in -the West that the road first appeared. Hence we must study enough of the -history of the West to see the stage set for the entry of the steel -trail. Or, to put this in another way, we should find how the West had -developed so as to successfully challenge the attention of Eastern -statesmen and effectively call for a large Federal expenditure, in order -that it might become linked up with the already developed East for the -welfare of the whole Dominion. With this in view we shall, in the next -chapter, meet those who, before the coming of the railway, began to make -for the West a place on the map of history. - - - - - CHAPTER II - The Approach to a Big Task - - -Salvaged from a “Highland Clearance” in the North of Scotland, and -brought out to the Red River country in 1812, a colony of Scottish -crofters settling midway across British America became the corner-stone -of the stately edifice now known as Western Canada. These people were -brought out after a harsh landlordism had displaced them from their -tenant farms and replaced them by sheep, as more remunerative occupants -of the strath. The plight of these evicted tenants, whose humble homes -were burned to bar their return, excited the compassionate attention of -that gentle, but heroic, nobleman, the Earl of Selkirk, and he, -obtaining a controlling interest in the Hudson’s Bay Company, brought -them to the Red River and placed them on land there. Lord Selkirk’s name -liveth for evermore, not only because his friend, Sir Walter Scott, -wrote that he never knew a man more fitted for high-souled undertakings, -but because the colony he then planted was destined to prove to the -world that the West was a land worth possessing as an illimitable area -which would some day be the granary of the Empire. Moreover, those early -settlers laid foundations for the future in religion and education. They -builded churches and they erected schools. They were of that strong -creed which believed that without moral sanctions and intelligence no -country’s business future could be secure. With these elements in a -community, prosperity will be fostered and of such a country great hopes -will be entertained.— - - “It dreads no sceptic’s puny hands - While near the school the church-spire stands; - Nor fears the blinded bigot’s rule - While near the church-spire stands the school.” - -The steady progress of that old colony on the Red River and the somewhat -hectic development of British Columbia, the latter not through -colonization so much as by gold rushes and trade exploitations, were the -leading factors in drawing the attention of Eastern statesmen to the -enormous possibilities of the West. In consequence the Canada that was -formed by the four old provinces in the East felt that the wide -West-land must also be brought into the Dominion that was to stretch -from sea to sea. - -As one born in that old Selkirk Colony, where my father was one of the -original settlers, I confess to finding some amusement in the theories -of later arrivals as to the opening up of the West. Some, for instance, -allege that the Hudson’s Bay Company had kept the West closed against -colonization and gave out the impression that the country was not fit -for agriculture. In refutation of that charge we have the fact that it -was the Hudson’s Bay Company that founded the first colony and protected -it through all the difficult years till it demonstrated that the country -was worth while. And it was the Hudson’s Bay men at posts all over the -vast North-west who cultivated plots around their posts and sent to -scientific schools evidences of the country’s fertility. It matters not -that Sir George Simpson, or some other individual man of the old -company, said that the prairie country was exposed to dangers as to -grain crops. In our own day people in Eastern Canada said the same thing -and commiserated their friends who left Ontario to settle in what they -called “hyper-borean regions.” The real fact is that settlers would not -come into the country until some railway communication was assured, and -no lesser force than that of Confederation in Canada could undertake to -build a railway into the West. Until that was done the country was -closed by an isolation which could not be remedied except as indicated -above. Few people would care to face the hardships and sufferings of the -Selkirk colonists, who were nearly ten years in the country before they -got enough from the soil to furnish subsistence. But they, as stated -already, endured till they demonstrated the value of the country. And -when the statesmen who saw and understood, conceived the plan of the -Canadian Pacific Railway to traverse and develop the West I feel that a -new glory was shed on the work of the old pioneers. I am glad to -remember that my father, one of the last survivors of that early colony, -lived long enough to see the iron horses pass the Red River on the steel -trail to the Pacific across the plains where he had seen the buffalo -roaming, and on over the mountains where some of his intimate friends, -like Robert Campbell, of the Yukon, had gone on their great -explorations. These early settlers had done their part, and rejoiced to -know that others were making real the things of which they, in the -pioneer days, had so daringly dreamed. - -A quite extraordinary linking up of events makes it possible for us to -say that, historically, the old Red River colony was not only by its -demonstration of the value of the West a procuring cause of the building -of the Canadian Pacific Railway, but that the old colony was the means -of bringing into special prominence, and enthusiasm for the West, the -famous engineer, Sandford Fleming, who directed all the preliminary -surveys for this pioneer trans-continental road. - -It happened on this wise. Fleming’s interest in the problem of -transportation was known to Mr. James Ross and Mr. William Coldwell, -both of whom I remember as publishers of the _Nor’Wester_, the first -paper in the Red River colony. These newspapermen had large influence -locally, and got the colonists interested in making an application to -the Imperial and Colonial Governments for a roadway from the Eastern -Provinces to the Red River and on to the Rocky Mountains. The idea was -to have a through route on British soil, and the plan was to begin with -a wagon-road as the forerunner of a transcontinental railway. Mr. -Sandford Fleming, though at that time he had not visited the Red River -colony, had advocated the undertaking as far back as 1858, in a lecture -which he published. So it came that when, in 1863, Mr. Fleming severed -his connection with railway building in Ontario, he was asked, on behalf -of the Red River colonists, to present and support a memorial to the -Canadian and Imperial Governments praying them for the establishment of -communication between East and West. The memorial was prepared by James -Ross and William Coldwell, and bears the mark of their literary skill as -well as their strong devotion to British interests. After outlining the -plan which the memorial desired to see adopted, it goes on to indicate -that such a road with its commerce and traffic would fill “Central -British America with an industrious, loyal people. Thus both politically -and commercially the opening up of this country, and the making of a -national highway through it, would immensely subserve Imperial -interests, and contribute to the stability and the glorious prestige of -the British Empire.” This memorial was adopted by the Red River -colonists at a mass meeting—a fact which suggests that despite their -isolation of half a century there were men amongst them who had the -vision of “a grand confederation of loyal and flourishing provinces -skirting the United States’ frontier and commanding at once the Atlantic -and the Pacific.” Verily, the colonization plan of the high-souled Lord -Selkirk, which some men of his time called visionary and Utopian, was -justifying itself in these Red River settlers, who not only laid a -foundation of solid moral worth in a new land and demonstrated its great -resources, but were also doing their part in welding together the links -of a far-flung Empire under the British flag. This gives the noble -founder of the colony, as well as the colony itself, an assured niche in -the temple of our country’s fame. - -Mr. Fleming was very enthusiastic over this memorial, and presented it -to the Hon. John Sandfield Macdonald, then Premier of the Canadian -Government. He accompanied it by a strong appeal in writing to Mr. -Macdonald, in which he visioned the great importance of the road across -the continent. Immediately thereafter, Mr. Fleming, at the request of -the Red River people, proceeded to the Old Country, where he presented -the memorial to the Duke of Newcastle, then Colonial Secretary. From his -visit to Canada three years before, with the Prince of Wales, the Duke -was familiar with the situation and discussed it with Mr. Fleming with -great interest and freedom. - -This visit to the Duke of Newcastle in 1863, while not productive of -immediate results, was, according to the opinion of Mr. Lawrence J. -Burpee, who writes an excellent biography of Mr. Fleming, the -turning-point in Fleming’s career. It made him an Empire figure and -intensified his worthy ambition to aid in building and consolidating -into one vast commonwealth the scattered colonies under the red cross -flag. Mr. Fleming’s later achievements in this regard are known to -history. They brought him the esteem of his generation, the appreciation -of his sovereign and the well-won and worthily-borne honour of -knighthood. Mr. Fleming had barely returned to Toronto from his visit to -the Colonial Secretary in the interests of a transcontinental roadway, -when he was summoned by the Premier, John Sandfield Macdonald, to come -to Quebec, then the Canadian capital. The result of that visit was that -Mr. Fleming, with the cordial support of all the governments concerned, -including the Imperial Government, represented by the Duke of Newcastle, -was placed in charge of the surveys for the projected Intercolonial -Railways in 1864. With his work on that important undertaking, till its -completion, we cannot deal in this story. But we have traced the -connection from the old Red River colony in the West to Mr. Fleming’s -visit abroad on its behalf—a visit that led in large measure to his -work on the Intercolonial, which, in turn, led to his being appointed in -1871 to the gigantic position of engineer-in-chief of the proposed -transcontinental, the Canadian Pacific Railway. All this was preliminary -and was part of Canada’s approach to a colossal task. In the next -chapter we shall look more closely into the inception of an enterprise -which now belts the globe. - - - - - CHAPTER III - Giants in Action - - -In an early chapter of the most famous of all Books, reference is made -to the inhabitants of the earth at a certain period, in the descriptive -statement, “There were giants in those days.” This is generally accepted -as indicating the physical stature and strength of those ancient men. -But there have been periods since that time concerning which we could -repeat the statement in the light of their distinctive achievements, not -necessarily because of the physical prowess, but because of the mental -and moral energy of the men who wrought great deeds. - -Such days, it seems to me, have been found in Canadian history in the -period of the heroic men and women who pioneered in all the provinces, -in the period when strong men grappled with the problems of -confederating the scattered colonies of British North America into one -Dominion, and in that period when the young Dominion, with only a few -millions of people, undertook and accomplished, with incredible speed, -the gigantic task of binding the provinces together by a band of steel. -It is, briefly, with the confederation achievement, but, much more -extendedly, with the building of the first transcontinental that our -present writing deals. The battle of the pioneers was principally -against poverty and climatic conditions. The battle for Confederation -was intensified by political, racial and even religious issues, though -ultimately none of these was much affected, as provision was made for -the autonomy of the Provinces in their own affairs. The battle for the -building of the Canadian Pacific Railway was first of all between -political gladiators who differed as to the practicability and value of -it. But when construction actually began, the struggle was against rival -interests, and difficult financial conditions, as well as against such -terrific natural obstacles that the undertaking was looked on by some as -the very climax of engineering impossibility. Now that the smoke of -battle has cleared away and that both Confederation and the Railway are -running smoothly, we can look back and see the giants who fought -victoriously to create the conditions we now enjoy. Some of these great -men did not live to see the realization of their dreams, but they died -in the faith that their dreams were so good that they would come true -some time. Like the gallant soldiers of all time, they fell, still -gripping the sword-hilt and cheering their comrades on to victory. Let -us be grateful enough to halt for a moment with bowed heads and lay a -wreath of memory on their honoured graves. Peace hath her victories no -less renowned than war, and Canada must not forget her heroes in either. - -There were several causes operating, midway in the last century, to lead -the older Canada of Ontario and Quebec, and also the Maritime areas of -New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, to consider the -advisability of federating together for the good of the whole. The -commercial power of the United States had such a magnetic pull upon some -of the provinces that the tie which held these Provinces to Britain was -being subjected to some strain. Moreover, the Imperial Government -noticed with some anxiety that political prejudices and feeling between -the various parts of the British possessions made any concerted plan for -military action difficult to accomplish. Accordingly, as it is now known -and can now be told, Lord Monck, who was the Governor-General in the -“sixties,” quietly used some pressure to keep Confederation before the -minds of public men in the various parts of the country. Besides all -that, there was very considerable difficulty in carrying on government -in the Canada of Ontario and Quebec, owing to racial differences and -double leadership, which meant an almost constant danger of legislative -deadlock. - -Moreover, the British possessions from the St. Lawrence to the Pacific -were like a dumbbell, big at the ends and weak in the middle, as a -Westerner once said. There were the immense areas of older Canada and -the still more immense areas west of Lake Superior—but the North Shore -of that inland sea was a wilderness of unproductive rock where no link -of settlement would seem possible. Hence, as the aforesaid Westerner -expressed it, “Canada would break off in the middle unless we linked it -up with the steel trail.” There was much truth in that statement in -those early days and highly important truth it was. Many, in our day, -cannot realize how swiftly inter-travel and inter-trade over the pioneer -railway across Canada brought the East and the West together. - -All these considerations, realized out of actually existing or foreseen -conditions, impelled the statesman of Canada in the 60’s to take -definite steps towards confederating the old provinces and then annexing -the vast territories all the way to the Pacific Coast. And here entered -the giants. Thus, for instance, in 1864 that great tribune of the -people, Mr. George Brown, of the Toronto _Globe_, reported in favour of -Confederation from a committee of the Canadian Legislature. About the -same time the Legislatures in Nova Scotia, mainly through the efforts of -Dr. (later Sir Charles) Tupper; in New Brunswick, through the influence -of Mr. Samuel L. Tilley; in Prince Edward Island, by the exertions of -the Hon. W. H. Pope, passed resolutions appointing delegates to a -Conference in Charlottetown for the purpose of discussing a uniting of -the Maritime Provinces. When that Conference met in Charlottetown a -deputation from Ontario and Quebec was received consisting of unusually -strong men, namely, John A. Macdonald, George Brown, George E. Cartier, -A. T. Galt, T. D’Arcy McGee, Alexander Campbell and Hector L. Langevin. -As a result of the Charlottetown meeting larger horizons loomed upon the -vision of that remarkable gathering. The souls of the men who then -assembled yearned beyond the sky-line of their own immediate -surroundings and, thinking of the extent of British Possessions in North -America, they were inspired and attracted by the greater task of -confederating them all into one great Dominion from sea to sea. It was a -tremendous task for that early day, but the men who faced it were giants -who could not rest satisfied with being cabinned and cribbed in a narrow -circumference, but who said: - - “No pent-up Utica confines our powers - The vast, boundless continent is ours.” - -After some discussion, the Charlottetown Conference adjourned to meet as -a larger gathering in Quebec City on October 10th, 1864—a red-letter -day not only in the history of Canada, but of the British Empire and the -world. The object of the Quebec Conference was as stated above; and -therefore there were men there from all the then organized British -Provinces. These were men who could have filled places in the “Mother of -Parliaments” at the world’s metropolis, but who at the Quebec meeting -were engaged in the, perhaps, more difficult undertaking of bringing -into being, out of diverse elements, a new nation within the Empire. -These men were “The Fathers of Confederation,” and the famous picture of -that conference should be in every Canadian home. Etienne P. Tache, who -once said that the last gun fired in North America for British -connection would be fired by a French-Canadian, was chairman. From -Ontario and Quebec came John A. Macdonald, George Brown, George E. -Cartier, A. T. Galt, William McDougall, Thomas D’Arcy McGee, Oliver -Mowat, Alexander Campbell, James Cockburn, Hector L. Langevin, and Jean -C. Chapais. From Nova Scotia there were Charles Tupper, W. A. Henry, -Jonathan McCully and R. B. Dickey. From New Brunswick came Samuel L. -Tilley, John M. Johnston, Charles Fisher, Peter Mitchell, E. B. -Chandler, W. H. Steeves and John H. Gray; Prince Edward Island was -represented by Colonel Gray, Edward Palmer, W. H. Pope, George Coles, -Edward Whalen, T. H. Haviland and A. A. Macdonald. Newfoundland sent F. -B. T. Carter and Ambrose Shea, though it was not yet to come into -Confederation. - -It is not our purpose, in the present writing, to dwell on this great -meeting beyond saying that it led to the Confederation of Ontario, -Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in 1867. Prince Edward Island -entered in 1873 and the Western prairie country and British Columbia in -1870 and 1871. The two latter entered with somewhat reluctant feet; -Manitoba, retarded by Louis Riel’s stand against the incoming of Canada -lest the rights of the natives should be ignored; and British Columbia, -unready to come in unless the railway across the continent to the -Pacific Coast was guaranteed within a given time. These difficulties -were finally overcome, but the details do not belong to this story. -Suffice it to say that Confederation being accomplished, the new sense -of national unity led to combination in the immense undertaking of a -railway from sea to sea. The courageous facing of such an enormous task -had no precedent in the business history of the modern world. The big -Republic to the South of us has done some amazing things, such as the -Panama Canal in recent years, but even that commercially daring country -only attempted a transcontinental railway when it had nearly forty -millions of people. Canada undertook the task when her population was -less than four millions. To the onlooking world the attempt must have -appeared like “a forlorn hope”—a sort of a “Charge of the Light -Brigade” against batteries bristling with obstacles of a wholly -unprecedented kind. But there are always some men who are unafraid, and -the dream of seers was to be realized. Once Confederation had been -accomplished, a transcontinental railway became a national necessity. -This was true not only from the standpoint of politics and trade, but -from the standpoint also of law and order in the far-flung country. It -will be remembered that Louis Riel started a revolt against the incoming -of Canadian authority in 1869, and that he held high carnival in the -West till Colonel Garnet Wolseley and his soldiers reached Fort Garry -from the East, nearly a year after the Riel outbreak started. All this -period was not consumed in travel; but it had taken three months’ steady -travel overland, after mobilization in the East, before Wolseley reached -the scene of Riel’s revolt. The whole Western country might have been -swept by the rebel chief’s revolt in that time, and the necessity of -swifter communication between the different parts of Canada became -painfully apparent. And so, when British Columbia came into -Confederation in 1871, there was an understanding that the railway from -the East to the Pacific should begin in two years and be finished in -ten. This daring pledge was given by Sir John A. Macdonald and his -Government at Ottawa, despite the fact that a distinguished explorer and -engineer, Capt. Palliser, sent out by the Imperial Government, had -reported after four years on the ground, that on account of the -mountains being impassable, a transcontinental railway could not be -built from sea to sea on British territory. But Sir John Macdonald went -ahead and sought to interest some big business men who might form a -company to build the Canadian Pacific to the Western sea. - -At that time Sir Hugh Allan, head of the Allan line of steamships, was -probably the most able and prominent business man in Canada. He was not -only interested in steamships on the Atlantic, but had acquired railway -interests as well. There is no doubt that Sir Hugh Allan had been -pressing upon men in public life the project of a transcontinental -railway, which he might lead in building, with the further idea, no -doubt, of having another line of steamers on the Pacific. This was a -worthy enough ambition for a great Canadian. There is no reason to think -that Sir Hugh Allan was mercenary or avaricious, for he had no need of -more wealth than he possessed. In any case he, being of the same -political party as Sir John Macdonald, as well as a man of great ability -and financial power, was one of those in line as a possibility for such -a big task. - -Accordingly Allan formed a company to build the railway. So also did Mr. -D. L. Macpherson and a group of Toronto capitalists, who alleged that -Allan was in league with American interests in a degree that would -militate against the success of the Canadian Pacific as a Canadian road. -Sir John Macdonald tried in vain to get these two projected companies to -amalgamate. Finally it seemed to be settled that a new company should be -formed of Canadians and that Allan would have control. He was spending -money with a lavish hand and when the Dominion election was held in 1872 -he furnished the large sum of $160,000 for campaign funds to Macdonald, -Cartier and Langevin. It is known that Allan had always contributed to -the campaign funds of the party, as others did, but the fact that these -campaign funds in 1872 were contributed at a time when a huge contract -was pending, made the whole transaction look dangerous. All campaign -funds are legally and morally wrong, and the fact that they were -customary and that everybody knows they are customary, does not make -them right. - -In this particular case, Cartier, who was then mentally as well as -physically broken down, and who, contrary to Macdonald’s advice, ran for -an impossible constituency, where he was defeated, seems to have made -the largest demands on Allan. It seems clear also that Cartier held out -to Allan, hopes of the contract. But it is also clear that the other -leaders got certain sums which they used in the campaign. The Macdonald -government was elected. After the election a new company, called the -Canadian Pacific, was formed, with representative men from all the -Provinces as directors. That new board chose Allan as President, it is -said, without any pressure from the Government. This is not unlikely, as -Allan was, as we have said, the biggest business man in Canada at the -time. To this company the Government granted a charter to build the -Canadian Pacific, but American interests were to be excluded as the -Government insisted. Allan agreed to this and repaid the money the -Americans had advanced. The New York men, of course, were annoyed at -this and gave the opponents of the Macdonald Government some hints as to -those campaign funds from Allan. Then Allan’s personal correspondence -with American interests during the election year was stolen by a clerk -in the office of Allan’s solicitor, Mr. J. J. C. Abbott, and, being made -public, raised a tremendous political storm. - -When the House of Commons met the atmosphere was tense and electric. -Only a few days elapsed before Mr. L. S. Huntingdon, for the Opposition, -moved for the investigation of the charges that were floating around in -regard to these campaign funds, the suggestion being that Sir Hugh Allan -got the railway contract in return for his monetary contributions. On an -immediate vote the Government was sustained, but there was an uneasy -feeling abroad and men of independent mould were breaking away from -party ties. Sir John Macdonald, who saw the situation with his usual -political sagacity, himself moved for the appointment of an -investigating commission, and the House adjourned till that commission -would be ready to report. When the House met in October, 1873, the Hon. -Alexander Mackenzie, leader of the Opposition, moved a vote of -non-confidence and supported it by quoting from the report of the -commission. The debate in the House was hot. Charles Tupper, the “war -horse of Cumberland”—a masterful debater, who later was the tremendous -drive wheel of the railway project—supported the Government, but -Huntingdon replied that the Government had kept itself in power by the -lavish use of money from men who were desiring contracts. Sir John A. -Macdonald spoke for nearly five hours in defence of his action, dealing -with the whole history of the Canadian Pacific Railway. He made a -special appeal for support in order that East and West might be -connected by rail and the whole of Canada developed. Sir John, though at -no stage of his career a great orator, was possessed of a magnetic -manner and could coin phrases that had indescribable force. Such, for -instance, was the expression he used once at a great mass meeting in -Toronto, when he said dramatically, “A British subject I was born—a -British subject I will die.” On this occasion, in 1873, in the House, -when he made explanation of his policy in regard to the railway -contract, he closed his five hours’ address in the words: “But, Sir, I -commit myself, the Government commits itself, to the hands of this -House; and far beyond this House, it commits itself to the country at -large. We have faithfully done our duty. We have fought the battle of -Confederation. We have fought the battle of unity. We have had party -strife, setting Province against Province. And more than all, we have -had, in the greatest Province, every prejudice and sectional feeling -that could be arrayed against us. I throw myself on this House; I throw -myself on this country; I throw myself on posterity, and I believe that, -notwithstanding the many failings of my life, I shall have the voice of -this country rallying around me. And, Sir, if I am mistaken in that, I -can confidently appeal to a higher court—to the court of my own -conscience, and to the court of posterity. I leave it to this House with -the utmost confidence. I am equal to either fortune. I can see past the -decision of this House, either for or against me, but, whether it be for -or against me, I know, and it is no vain boast of me to say so, for even -my enemies will admit that I am no boaster—that there does not exist in -Canada a man who has given more of his time, more of his heart, more of -his wealth, or more of his intellect and power, such as they may be, for -the good of this Dominion of Canada.” - -This speech was listened to by a full house and crowded galleries, -amongst those present being Lord Roseberry, then on a visit to Canada. -Sir John closed his speech about two o’clock in the morning, and the -Hon. Edward Blake rose to reply. Blake was probably the ablest and most -massively intellectual man that Canada has produced. He lacked the -magnetism of Sir John, but had the power, almost to a fault, of dealing -with a subject in such detail that when he was through with it there was -little left to be said. Mr. Blake was at that time quite sceptical as to -the practicability of a transcontinental railway, anyway; but that night -in the House of Commons he concentrated his tremendous argumentative -oratory against the Government for having, as he alleged, won the -election with campaign funds from interested parties. - -There was doubt as to the result in the House till some of the -independent members who might ordinarily have supported the Government -began to indicate otherwise. Curiously enough, Mr. Donald A. Smith -(afterwards Lord Strathcona), the man who, later on, drove the last -spike in the Canadian Pacific Railway, under the Premiership of this -same Sir John Macdonald, in 1885, was the member who really dealt the -Government its knockout blow in 1873 in the House of Commons. No one -knew what the course of Mr. Smith, who was never a party man, would be, -and when he rose to speak every one listened with strained attention. -His opening words seemed to favour the Government, but he was simply -absolving Sir John Macdonald from personal blame. Here is the report of -what Mr. Smith said: “With respect to the transaction between the -Government and Sir Hugh Allan, I do not consider that the First Minister -took the money with any corrupt motive. I feel that the leader of the -Government is incapable of taking money from Sir Hugh Allen for corrupt -purposes. I would be most willing to vote confidence in the Government -(loud cheers from the Government side), if I could do so conscientiously -(loud cheers from the Opposition). It is with very great regret that I -cannot do so. For the honour of the country, no Government should exist -that has a shadow of suspicion resting on them, and for that reason I -could not support them.” (Renewed Opposition cheers.) In the afternoon -of that day, November 5th, 1873, Sir John A. Macdonald informed the -House that he had placed his resignation in the hands of the -Governor-General and that the Hon. Alexander Mackenzie was called upon -to form a new administration. - -Sir John Macdonald had resigned without waiting for a vote of the House -and no one to this day knows just how it would have divided. But the -feeling in the country was hot and, like a wise man, he bowed to the -inevitable. He said that someday the people would understand and call -him back to power. The fact that they did call him back five years later -astounded his political foes, one of whom had said in the House, during -the debate, that Sir John “had fallen like Lucifer, never to rise -again.” But he did rise, to the surprise of many. The fact that he came -back later on was due, in some degree, to his personal magnetism. But it -was also due to the fact that people knew that Sir John had not profited -in any personal way and that he and Sir Hugh Allan had become almost -obsessed with the idea that the continuance of Sir John in office at -that time was absolutely necessary to the opening up and development of -Canada. They acted accordingly, as if the end they had in view justified -the methods they adopted. Moreover, it was shown that Sir John had -definitely told Allan that he would not give the railway contract to -him, but to an amalgamation of the two companies. Allan said in -connection with the whole matter: “The plans I propose are the best for -the interests of the Dominion and in urging them I am doing a patriotic -action.” - -In the meantime, when Sir John resigned, Mackenzie took office and, in a -general election shortly afterwards, swept the country. Sir Hugh Allan, -unable to raise capital in the presence of the political earthquake and -the business depression, threw up the charter for building the Canadian -Pacific Railway, and a new programme had to be adopted. For the time -being the curtain had to be rung down on the gigantic project. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - The Chariot Wheels Drag - - -The name of Alexander Mackenzie, the stonemason, who succeeded Sir John -Macdonald as Premier of Canada in 1873, deserves to be uttered with -profound respect. By the most intense application to work and the most -diligent use of his opportunities in the right way, he rose steadily, -not only in circumstances, but in the esteem of his fellow-countrymen, -till he attained the highest office in the gift of the Canadian people. -Born in the Highlands of Scotland, he came out to Canada as a young -stonecutter. He returned some thirty years later to the romantic scenes -of his childhood as the Premier of the Dominion, a credit alike to the -land of his birth and the land of his adoption. Once, in my student -days, I met him in Winnipeg. He had made the trip to the far West, but -was in poor health—a rather pathetic figure, I thought, whose -unflinching resistance of down-grade influences had made his public life -harder than stonecutting. - -But while we thus pay him personal tribute, we find that, whether as a -result of the dissolution of the Allan Company, or pressure of lean -years, or the lack of enthusiasm amongst his following in the House, -Mackenzie, despite his good intentions, made little progress with the -building of the Canadian Pacific Railway during his five years in -office. It was not easy for Mackenzie and his supporters, after -attacking the general extravagance of Sir John Macdonald’s plan for a -transcontinental, to accommodate themselves to carrying out the scheme -of a railway from ocean to ocean. Edward Blake, Mackenzie’s great -lieutenant, had openly said more than once that the rounding out of -Confederation by pledging a railway to British Columbia within a fixed -term was too costly. The population of the West Coast Province was only -some ten thousand or so of white people, he said, and this country was -“a sea of mountains.” One of the chief newspapers of Mr. Mackenzie’s -party said that the Canadian Pacific “would not pay for axle grease” -over certain sections. Mr. Blake, it is true, in 1891 visited the West -Coast over the completed railway, and made a brilliantly humorous and -eloquent apology for his mistaken conception of the country. But that -was too late to help Mackenzie with his problem, and the fact that Mr. -Blake and some others of his party actually voted in the House against -Mackenzie’s proposal regarding the Esquimault railway on Vancouver -Island did not help the heavily burdened Premier. But one must allow -that it is much easier to be optimistic about British Columbia now than -it was at that time. Very few people then dreamed of the development -that could and would take place in the Province which Mr. Blake, -speaking for thousands in the East, called “a sea of mountains.” It -looked like that in those days before the world knew that British -Columbia had not only mines and forests and fish, but that vast areas -would be opened up along the rivers and in the mountain valleys which -would prove immensely adapted to agriculture, fruit-growing and -dairying. Therefore let us be kind to the men who were sceptical about -the whole railway undertaking. We are quoting their scepticism here only -to show the problem that Premier Mackenzie had to face when he came into -power in 1873. Under all the circumstances he did the best he could at -the time—that is, the best that could be done by any man who lacked the -full-hearted support of some of his own friends, and who felt that to -meet the demands of the naturally impatient and almost resentful British -Columbia, was practically impossible in the lean years that seemed -imminent and beyond his power to control. - -But Mackenzie began on the problem and we find him, in 1874, in an -election address to his own constituents in Lambton, Ontario, unfolding -his plan. Briefly, the transportation system was to be a sort of -amphibious animal. Mackenzie, realizing that traffic by water is the -cheapest type of transportation, thought he saw a possibility of -securing a transcontinental, without undue cost, by utilizing “the -magnificent water stretches” across Canada, linking them together by -rail as funds would be available. In this way he claimed that railway -construction would be gradual enough to avoid excessive financial -expenditure, and that the country would be gradually settled. Settlement -would keep abreast with railway construction and thus the possibility of -having the railway going ahead of the settlement across an uninhabited, -and therefore unproductive, country would be eliminated. - -Mr. Mackenzie was perfectly sincere in this, as he was in everything. -The plan was not without merit under the circumstances, but it had -defects which arose out of a lack of knowledge of the Western country -generally, and particularly of the attitude of the people of British -Columbia. It also ignored the strange, but characteristic, impulses of -human nature in regard to migration. Every now and then in history some -section of humanity strikes its tents and goes on the march, railway or -no railway. Especially does the Star of the Empire draw people westward. -Before there was a railway in the West at all, many of my own kith and -kin loaded their few belongings on ox-carts and took their way five -hundred miles north-westward to Prince Albert, on the North -Saskatchewan. And so also will some people go on in advance of the -railway, despite all advice to the contrary. For years I heard it said -by some that had the Canadian Pacific not been built so rapidly, -settlement would have been more compact along the line. But this theory -is contradicted by the actual fact, as we saw it, that when the trains -were only running to Brandon, west of Winnipeg, settlers were leaving -the train there and trekking on westward with prairie schooners. Great -numbers may not thus go forward in any particular case, but since a -country grows by the enterprise of the adventurous, it becomes the duty -of such a country to follow with utilities, the people who thus widen -the horizon of the land. - -Moreover, Mackenzie’s well-intentioned policy of using the water -stretches would have made transportation too slow and too expensive for -shippers, owing to the constant need for transfers, with necessary -delays and damages. And, most important of all, that policy indicated -too tardy a construction of the transcontinental to satisfy British -Columbia, which had entered confederation on the distinct understanding -that a railway would be built to the Pacific within reasonable time. - -Mackenzie made an effort, by sending Mr. J. D. Edgar to British -Columbia, to secure a modification in the terms of Confederation in -regard to railway construction. This mission was resented in British -Columbia, and Mr. Edgar was recalled. The people of British Columbia -looked on the attempt to change the Confederation terms as a breach of -faith on the part of Canada, and said so in their usual straight-flung -words. Both parties put the case before Lord Carnarvon, who offered to -arbitrate. His award was on the whole rather favourable to Mackenzie’s -effort for modification, and was accepted in the meantime as the best -obtainable. British Columbia, feeling that even the modified terms would -not be carried out, began to discuss withdrawing from Confederation, and -motions to that effect were actually submitted in the Legislature. - -Things were not looking well, and that master diplomat, Lord Dufferin, -then Governor-General of Canada, resolved to visit the West Coast, -accompanied by his gracious lady. They crossed via Chicago and San -Francisco by rail, thence by H.M.S. _Amethyst_ to Vancouver Island. They -were warmly welcomed to Victoria, but were given, from the beginning, to -understand that British Columbia wanted the railway and wanted it -without delay. At one point they saw a horse blanketed and upon the -blanket were the words “Good, but not iron.” - -In Victoria arches were numerous. One arch had an inscription, “Our -railway iron rusts,” and another very conspicuous one had the menacing -message “Carnarvon terms or separation.” - -Lord Dufferin knew his relation to the Crown and to the Government of -the day too well to allow his courtesy to run away with his conception -of duty as Governor-General of Canada, and so he declined to drive under -the arch which had upon it the threat of secession. So he ordered the -carriage to detour until that arch was passed. Afterwards Lady Dufferin -said, “The Governor-General would have driven under the arch if one -letter had been changed so as to have the inscription read ‘The -Carnarvon Terms or Reparation.’” The incident caused some excitement, -but Lord Dufferin knew his constitutional law too well to be moved. On -the whole the visit of this brilliant diplomat and magnetic orator made -a great impression for good. His speech at the close of the tour of the -Coast was a noble eulogy of the wonderful beauty and potential wealth of -British Columbia. While not becoming a partisan advocate for the -Dominion Government, Lord Dufferin expressed his view that Mr. Mackenzie -had done his best under all the circumstances, and would continue so to -do while he was in power. The speech of the eloquent and tactful -Governor-General had a pronounced effect in allaying the indignation of -the people against the Government of the day. They settled down to wait -development with as good grace as possible. - -However, after waiting two years more without seeing any railway -construction begun on either the mainland of British Columbia or -Vancouver Island, Premier George A. Walkem, in the Legislature at -Victoria, moved the famous resolution to the effect that unless the -Dominion started railway construction by May of 1879, the Province of -British Columbia should withdraw from the Confederation and even ask -damages from Canada for delay in carrying out their railway promises to -the Province. This extraordinary motion was carried by fourteen to nine, -with the probable intention of waking up both the Imperial and Canadian -Governments to the discontent on the Western Coast. The resolution -reached Ottawa in October, 1878, just after the Mackenzie Government had -been defeated, and owing to the confusion caused by the change it was -put into some pidgeonhole for a rest, and did not reach London till -March, 1879. By that time Sir John A. Macdonald, who had come back to -power with his aggressive and indomitable Railway Minister, Sir Charles -Tupper, was getting down to a new programme of railway building, and -British Columbia, in consequence, was becoming more contented and -hopeful. So no one asked any questions when the famous secession -resolution of the British Columbia legislature found oblivion in the -files of Downing Street. - -All this does not mean that Mr. Mackenzie was inactive in the matter of -the transcontinental railway. Considering the facts we have mentioned -already, namely, that many of his chief supporters were lukewarm in -regard to the whole project, which they considered premature, and the -further fact that there was a cycle of lean years, he strove to get -things moving, but the chariot wheels dragged. There was no popular -enthusiasm over the undertaking, because the times were hard and there -was general failure on the part of the people to get a vision of the -illimitable possibilities that lay to westward. But some progress was -made. Extensive surveys were carried forward. And several contracts were -let for the easier portions of the route. The hard places, like the -North Shore of Lake Superior, and the mountains in British Columbia, -were not attempted. Lord and Lady Dufferin, at Emerson, Manitoba, in -1877, drove the first two spikes in the portion which started at the -international boundary-line, where the railways linked up with an -American line. This was later called the Emerson Branch, and ran from -the boundary east of the Red River through St. Boniface, across from -Winnipeg, to East Selkirk. From Selkirk a portion of the railway to -Thunder Bay, on Lake Superior, was begun. It was the plan of the -Mackenzie Government to cross the Red River at Selkirk, and strike -westward over the prairies, side-tracking Winnipeg, which was then -becoming a considerable centre of population. I recall a locomotive -round-house at East Selkirk built in Mackenzie’s time, but later -abandoned when the line was changed to run through Winnipeg. Budding -political orators made merry over this round-house, as being the only -assurance they had that a road which would require the stabling of iron -horses at a divisional point would some day be constructed. - -The slow progress of transcontinental railway building afforded -ammunition to the opponents of the Mackenzie Government in the House of -Commons. And there is no record of an Opposition ever allowing an -opportunity to oppose to go by unused. In one year we find that -redoubtable fighter, Dr. (later Sir) Charles Tupper, moving a long -resolution urging the Government “to employ the available funds of the -Dominion to complete the road.” This was voted down. Next year that -unique, somewhat peculiar, but quite brilliantly versatile publicist, -Mr. Amor de Cosmos, of British Columbia, moved a vote of censure on the -Government for the slowness of their building of the road to the Coast. -This resolution did not get far in the House. The Coast was so far away -that the project of building all the way to the Pacific gave even the -Opposition a chill when it came squarely before them. Hon. George W. -Ross, a Mackenzie supporter, moved that only such progress should be -attempted as would “not increase the existing rates of taxation,” which -manifestly would mean not much progress. Dr. Tupper came back to the -attack in April, 1877, with a motion of censure, but this was negatived -also. During all this time that astute statesman, Sir John A. Macdonald, -was studying the political horoscope, and all of a sudden, in 1878, he -propounded a policy of protection and railway construction which caught -the popular imagination and he was swept into power again. There was a -swift revival of optimism, because there was a revival of trade, and the -wave carried the Canadian Pacific Railway enterprise on its crest to new -heights of success. - - - - - CHAPTER V - Getting up Speed - - -Whether a protective tariff brings real or fictitious prosperity, and -whether it enriches the few or the many, are questions which are -fortunately outside the scope of this book. But, anyway, the fact, -historically, is that with the advent of Sir John Macdonald and his -National Policy of protection in 1878, there came quite a pronounced -outburst of new faith in the future possibilities of Canada. There were, -no doubt, other subsidiary causes, and some even hold that lean and fat -years come in cycles. But, in any case, there was a decided restoration -of public confidence in all legitimate business enterprises, and, what -was still more important, there came a distinctive national sentiment -and pride which made the vast project of the Canadian Pacific Railway -from ocean to ocean a distinct possibility. - -Portions of the railway had already been under construction by the -Mackenzie Government, as we have seen. These portions were mainly east -of the Red River, but surveys had been carried on with far-reaching -results in the mountain region of British Columbia. These surveys were -under the general direction of Mr. Marcus Smith, an engineer of -remarkable experience and ability. He had done work in the British Isles -and Spain before coming to this side of the ocean, where he was on -service in South America, as well as on the Grand Trunk and the -Intercolonial in the older parts of what is now Eastern Canada. The -other day here, through the kindness of Mr. Newton Ker, now head of the -Coast Department of Lands for the Canadian Pacific, I had the privilege -of reading a scrap book kept by Mr. Marcus Smith over many years, and -willed by him to Mr. Ker. This book indicates that Mr. Smith had a very -wide interest in social, civil and political life, as well as in his own -special vocation of engineering. The man who gathered that collection of -articles together had a big outlook on things, and would regard his work -in the mountains as of national significance. - -The remarkable explorations of Mr. Walter Moberly, who later discovered -the Eagle’s Pass by watching the flight of eagles evidently following a -fish-stream, had produced good results and his experience in connection -with the building of the famous Yale-Cariboo wagon road made his later -services specially valuable. Mr. Henry J. Cambie, and Mr. Thomas H. -White, his personal assistant and associate in solving the engineering -problems through the Fraser River canyons, are still, happily, living in -Vancouver, highly regarded as citizens who did their share of nation -building. Other noted engineers of that period in British Columbia were -H. T. Jennings, H. P. Bell, Henry MacLeod, C. E. Perry, G. A. Keefer, -Joseph Hunter, L. B. Hamlin, W. F. Gouin, C. F. Harrington, E. W. -Jarvis, John Trutch, C. Horetzky, C. H. Gamsby and, later on, Major -Rogers, after whom Rogers’ Pass was named, although Moberly always -contended that the pass had been discovered by Albert Perry, one of his -assistants in a survey in 1866. Of course there were many others, but -these are representative of the famous body of men who made their way -along the dangerous rivers, through the tangled forests, by precipitous -cliffs and across terrific canyons, until they finally found safe -location for the steel trail through a region that many had pronounced -to be impenetrable—a sort of supernatural barrier interposed between -the prairies and the Western sea. Most of these men have, as already -intimated, passed over the Great Divide into the Unseen; but, at great -cost to themselves in hardship and suffering and privation, they made it -possible for the people of to-day to travel in rolling palaces where -once they themselves trod with aching and weary feet. Let us highly -honour the memory of the engineers and surveyors and their men, who were -the forerunners of the mighty engines which now thunder through the -echoing mountain passes, along which these heroes of the transit and the -chain, long years ago, pursued their painful and precarious way. - -The Macdonald Government came back into power in 1878, as we have seen, -on the wave of the National Policy movement. But, for two years, they -worked on the lines of their predecessors and linked up some of the -disconnected portions of the road which Mr. Mackenzie had constructed in -various localities, mainly between the Lakes and the Red River. Then Sir -Charles Tupper, that militant and aggressive Minister of Railways, took -the bold plunge and let to Andrew Onderdonk, a young American railroader -of San Francisco, contracts to build portions of the Canadian Pacific -through “the sea of mountains” in British Columbia. Canada was young at -the railway business, as indicated by the fact that it was an American -who got the contract to build the first parts of the mountain road. -Later on, as the construction of the road from ocean to ocean began to -get under way, Canadians developed by the score into great practical -railway builders. Young men who had begun by chopping in the bush grew -into contractors for getting out ties for the track-layers, and finally -themselves took contracts for actual building of the railway over rock -and boulders, through mountain vastnesses and quaking bogs until the -steel reached tide water. It was in itself an act of splendid audacity -for a people of less than four millions in number to start on the task -of throwing a railway across an immense and almost uninhabited continent -to the shores of the Western sea. And this daring on the part of the -young Dominion was backed gallantly and effectively by scores of -native-born Canadians who, with genuine Canadian initiative, learned a -new trade and followed it with tremendous energy and skill. - -It has been my good fortune and privilege to meet many of these men. -Some of them made money and some of them did not. The task of -calculating the cost of a piece of work over a given stretch of country, -where unexpected obstacles emerged, was not easy. There were stretches -on the North Shore of Lake Superior where the old Laurentian rocks had -to be blasted to pieces at a cost of half-a-million a mile. There is a -well-known muskeg east of Winnipeg where seven tracks went under, till a -solid foundation was secured in what looked for a while like a -bottomless pit. And there were tunnels and bridges and cuttings in the -mountains which challenged the resources of a race of Titans. So, we -say, these contractors did not, by any means, always make money. But my -knowledge of them leads me to say that very few of the contractors or -engineers cared for the money end of it in any case. They felt that they -were engaged in a work of significance, not only to Canada and the -Empire, but to the world, and that was an inspiration worth while. I -recall being told by the secretary to one of the most famous of these -railway builders that, so intent was this railway man on his work, that -he very often forgot to have money enough in his pocket for personal -necessities. In one sense he handled millions; but, only for the -precaution of his secretary who knew his ways, this railway magnate -would often have been personally stranded. “He thought so little of -money,” said the secretary, “that he hardly ever carried any with him. -But he was generous withal. The real fact was he was so engrossed in the -great enterprise of helping to build a road across Canada that he forgot -his own personal needs.” - -Going back to Mr. Andrew Onderdonk, it is interesting to recall his -influence on the social life of British Columbia by his importation of a -few thousand Chinese coolies to work on railway construction. Mr. -Onderdonk claimed that he was unable to get enough white men who were -willing to do that particular kind of work. Be that as it may, the -present fact is that we have a very large Chinese population in this -Province which faces the Orient. It is equally sure that the presence of -so many Orientals causes many serious problems. It is fashionable for -some people who do not know the history, to lay the responsibility for -the presence of Chinese here on the Canadian Pacific Railway Company. -But the fact is that it was Mr. Onderdonk who imported these Oriental -coolies while the road was still under Government supervision, two or -more years before the Canadian Pacific Railway Company was formed. It is -only fair always to apportion praise or blame justly, so that every one -shall bear his own burden of responsibility without having to carry more -than his share. Hence, the company, be it known, was not the originator -of the importation of Chinese coolies for the construction of the road. -On this subject we are not now moralizing either way, but are simply -making a statement of historical fact. - -In any case, Mr. Onderdonk knew the business of railway construction and -kept steadily on, taking over some portions from other contractors, till -he had the steel laid from Port Moody to Kamloops, and made a creditable -record for railway building across an exceedingly difficult section of -Canada. In fact, Sir Charles Tupper, the militant Minister of Railways, -said quite openly that, though the construction of a piece of the road -on the Pacific Coast would not mean much till it was linked up with the -Eastern part of Canada, he wanted to get the mountain section under -construction without delay for certain reasons. One was that the -construction of that exceedingly difficult section, if successfully -accomplished, would show the possibility of the whole task of the -transcontinental being completed in due time. The other, of course, was -that the people of British Columbia, fortunately for them, had several -ably-insistent and politely-vociferous leaders who would give no rest to -any Government till the work of railway construction had actually begun -on the Coast. There were some prominent men elsewhere who did not look -at things in the same light. An Opposition in Parliament opposes the -party in power as a sort of a constitutional principle, nominally at -least, for the safety of the country, which otherwise might have unwise -legislation imposed on it. But even apart from that, we need not now -look with undue criticism on the record of men like the Hon. Edward -Blake, a statesman of great ability and integrity who, when Onderdonk -was going ahead with his contracts in the mountains, moved in the House -of Commons in 1880 that “the public interests require that the work of -constructing the Pacific Railway in British Columbia be postponed.” -Others of his party took the same stand, and it must be admitted that, -apart from the prerogative of an Opposition above indicated, the whole -project seemed vast enough to appal men who did not personally know the -West well enough to visualize its illimitable future. The gigantic -undertaking, as already mentioned, looked well nigh quixotic for less -than four millions of people, and the fact that there were, in the years -following, times when the whole effort seemed on the verge of disaster, -ought to restrain our wholesale condemnation of early sceptics. -Incidentally, it ought to bring us to the salute when we think of the -railway builders who fought their amazing difficulties and, by fighting, -gathered strength to win out in the end. - -Andrew Onderdonk in the mountains and other contractors between Lake -Superior and the Red River, were doing good work, but their detached -pieces of road ended in the air. And Sir John A. Macdonald was quick to -see that something more had to be done. Accordingly, at a Cabinet -meeting at the close of the first session after his return to power, Sir -John brought up the question of building railways in the North-West in -order to attract immigrants. Sir Charles Tupper, who, being at the head -of the Department of Railways, had made special study of the situation, -agreed with Sir John that something should be done at once and neither -one of them was in love with the idea of Government ownership and -operation of railways. Sir Charles thought the policy of a -transcontinental should be again emphasized, and that a responsible -company should be secured to build it. Sir John said that was always his -idea; but it was a “large order” and they had better take a week to -think it over. On the appointed day Sir Charles submitted a carefully -prepared report in favour of a through line, built, owned and operated -by a chartered company. Putting it in brief form, the suggestion was -that the Government should complete and hand over to such a company the -parts of the railway then built or under construction, estimated at -about seven hundred miles, which, when finished, would have cost about -thirty-two millions of dollars. The portions of the road then built, or -being built, were the lines from Port Arthur to Winnipeg, from Kamloops -to Port Moody and the Emerson Branch on the east side of the Red River, -from the boundary-line to St. Boniface and Winnipeg. In addition to -getting possession of these portions, the company would receive a cash -grant of twenty-five millions of dollars, and fifty (later reduced to -twenty-five) million acres of land along the railway. - -The suggestion was heartily agreed to by Sir John, and the Cabinet was -unanimously in favour of the plan proposed. The Cabinet adjourned -immediately after the decision was made. The members thereof had good -reason to call it a day. The Rubicon had been crossed and the country -was on the march to a new destiny. There were to be many obstacles -encountered before the objective would be reached. It was a mighty -venture of faith, but men of thought and men of action would clear the -way. - -Meanwhile the contractors on the portions under construction carried on, -but the Government was looking eagerly to the financial magnates of the -Old Land to form a company to carry out its policy. Yet, despite a visit -of Sir John, Sir Charles and the Hon. John Henry Pope to London, there -was no rush on the part of British financiers to build a railway across -a vast, thinly populated continent. And when it looked as if there was -going to be a disappointing set-back, there arose a small group of men -on our own continent who were destined to lead in making the projected -transcontinental what Lord Shaughnessy, a few hours before his death, -called so finely, in a conversation with President Beatty, “a great -Canadian property and a great Canadian enterprise.” We shall, in the -next chapter, meet the men who came to the rescue. - - - - - CHAPTER VI - A Great Adventure - - -“Playing safe” is a better programme than reckless foolhardiness, but it -is a poor programme as compared with the spirit of adventure. Without -adventure, based upon faith, humanity’s horizon would never have widened -out and new continents and new avenues for the expenditure of human -energy in great enterprises for the good of mankind would never have -been discovered. Satisfaction with present attainment means stagnation, -and it is better to reach out after the apparently unattainable than to -allow our God-given energies to suffer atrophy through disuse. - -In our present study of the building of a great railway across Canada, -traversing vast unpeopled plains, and boring its way through what some -had declared to be impassable mountain barriers, it is a very -interesting thing to find the enterprise somewhat closely linked up with -a certain other organization that had been chartered in 1670, under the -title of “The Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading -into Hudson Bay.” The big word in that title is the word “adventurers,” -and it applies both to the men who hazarded their capital and to the men -who fared forth from the Old Country into the unknown spaces of the new -continent on this side of the sea. This Hudson’s Bay Company not only -attracted attention to the new world that had still to be conquered, but -its able and resourceful employees in the North-West became distinct -elements in the progress of the country. - -In this particular connection one Donald Alexander Smith (later Lord -Strathcona) who had come out from Scotland as a lad to Labrador, in the -service of the Company, had risen to be head of that Company in Canada -at the time of Confederation, and was a member of the House of Commons -for Winnipeg when the project of a transcontinental railway loomed up as -an actual possibility. Mr. Smith was a restlessly ambitious man, or he -would not have so risen, and there is no doubt in my mind (and I knew -him in his later years) that when the discussion arose he began to -cherish the hope of being an instrument in linking up the East and West -in some way by the much-discussed railway. - -Since writing this I came across a letter, dated November, 1872, at -Stuart Lake, B.C., from the Hudson’s Bay Company factor then in charge -there, to the officer in charge at another post. This letter not only -shows that the Hudson’s Bay Company, instead of retarding the opening up -of the country by rail as some have affirmed, was actively assisting and -making possible the work of explorers and surveyors who were beginning -to blaze the way for the road. And it also shows that Mr. Donald A. -Smith was, even that far back, on his own behalf and on behalf of the -ancient fur-trading organization, contributing his quota in that -direction. Here is an extract in the letter from one Hudson’s Bay man to -another: “The bearer is a botanist belonging to the railway survey who -arrived here in company with an engineer, and who is the bearer of a -letter from Mr. Donald A. Smith to us men in the service to assist the -surveyors as far as possible. He also showed me a letter from Mr. -Sandford Fleming, authorizing the engineer who goes down the Skeena to -sign any bill of expenses he may have with the Hudson’s Bay Company and -it will be good. I have told him that you would forward him to Victoria -and push him through as quickly as possible. The engineer’s name is -something like Horetzkie.” The writer of that letter had caught the name -of the engineer all right. And it shows not only how these Hudson’s Bay -posts made the work of these and other explorers possible, but in this -particular case it links the name of Donald A. Smith with the new day -that was dawning. - -I do not think that Mr. Smith was by any means the ablest of the men who -later formed the Canadian Pacific Railway Company Board. But he was -unquestionably the pivot on which the project turned, from its doubtful -success as a Government undertaking, to its becoming an accomplished -fact as a privately owned and operated concern. - -And it happened on this wise. Mr. Smith had to travel frequently between -West and East, through St. Paul, Minnesota, on his way from Fort Garry -to Ottawa and Montreal, in connection with parliamentary and Company -business. In St. Paul he usually called on Mr. Norman W. Kitson, a -Canadian, formerly a Hudson’s Bay factor, and met along with him another -Canadian, James J. Hill, who was then in the coal business. Kitson and -Hill were both interested in transportation to the Red River country, -and were anxious to get a hold of a three-hundred-mile railway called -the St. Paul and Pacific, running from St. Paul to the Red River, and -later to westward, if it could be kept going. This road had fallen into -misfortune because grasshopper plagues and Indian troubles and massacres -had depopulated the territory through which it ran. So the Dutch -bondholders had thrown it into the hands of the receiver, and the bonds -were not saleable in the ordinary way. Hill and Kitson, who knew more -about the country than the Dutch bondholders, felt that the road could -be built up into a really valuable concern, and Smith thought the same. -But they lacked the capital to acquire it. - -Mr. Smith, on arrival in Montreal, told all this to his cousin, Mr. -George Stephen, another Scot, who had prospered well in business and was -President of the Bank of Montreal. Stephen (later Lord Mount Stephen) -was a man of unusual strength and vision. They talked it over with Mr. -R. B. Angus, also a Scot, and a very able business man, who was, at that -time, general manager of the same bank. Stephen and Angus agreed -generally with Smith, but they had not then seen the country and were -not of the kind to be rash. However, in 1877 Stephen and Angus had to be -in Chicago on banking business and, having a few days at their disposal, -decided to run up to St. Paul and see Hill and his country. They saw -both, as well as the railway, and were satisfied it had a big future. -The grasshoppers were disappearing, the Indians were all peaceful or -dead, and settlers would rush in to the rich areas. Stephen was a man of -swift action when he was satisfied, and so he hied himself away to -Amsterdam, got an option on the railway and came back with that option -in his pocket. The necessary money was raised, bonds were later on -floated, and Stephen, Hill, Angus, Smith (all Canadians), with John S. -Kennedy, of New York, took over the railway and the land-grant. We need -not follow the history of that St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba -Railway (which later developed into “Jim” Hill’s Great Northern); but -everything seemed to come the way of the adventurous Canadians who had -risked much on it, and they became multi-millionaires in a surprisingly -short time. - -It was to this group of men, who were doubtless ready to be approached, -that Sir John A. Macdonald, after having tried in vain in Europe, -turned, when even Sir Charles Tupper, who was never disposed to be -afraid of anybody or anything, called the Premier’s attention to the -prodigious task ahead if the Government itself attempted to build and -operate a railway across Canada from sea to sea. By these financial men -and a few more, as we shall see, the project that had terrified -Governments of both political shades was undertaken, and by them it was -ultimately, and after terrific struggle, carried to completion. Even Mr. -J. J. Hill came in at the outset, but, differing from the rest on the -policy of building over the North Shore of Lake Superior and thus having -an all-Canadian route, and finding it impossible to serve two masters in -two railways that would clash somewhat, he retired soon after the -Canadian Pacific Board was organized. But we are not to forget “Jim” -Hill, a Canadian abroad, for it was through him that the great -triumvirate, Stephen, Smith and Angus, got a taste for railroading and a -certain training therein which stood them and Canada in good stead in -the stormy days that lay ahead. - -It was, in a sense, natural that the men we have mentioned should take -hold of the Canadian Pacific undertaking. Some of them, at least, knew -the great West-land by actual observation. The others would bank on the -statements of those who knew the country. Stephen was the most cautious -and so the least inclined to take risks in regard to such a colossal -enterprise. But once he entered upon it, we are probably safe in saying -that, though he had his hours of depression, he became the mainstay of -the Board in the dark storms of difficulty that were at times to settle -down on the project during the desperate days that were ahead. All -three, Stephen, Smith and Angus, hailed from the land where there is a -saying, “A stout heart to a stey bræ.” And these men and their -associates were to face, in every sense of the word, “steep hills” in -the financial world as well as in actual rock-ribbed obstacles to -railway building, greater than any contemplated by the originator of the -inspiring saying quoted above. There was to be a time, as we shall see -later, when Stephen’s famous cablegram to Smith, in the single Gælic -word “Craigellachie” (stand fast), would be needed as a ringing -admonition to men in Canada whose resources became so completely -exhausted that failure seemed practically inevitable. - -In the meantime we have only reached the stage in our story where these -men, Stephen, Smith and Angus, reinforced by another highly capable, -careful and successful Montreal man, Mr. Duncan McIntyre, at the -threshold of the gigantic undertaking, were in consultation with the -Macdonald-Tupper administration at Ottawa on the subject. They all -sensed the almost overwhelming bigness of the task and, although they -were attracted by the challenge of its immensity, and were prepared to -accept that challenge, they all realized that they should try to secure -the co-operation of the world’s financial centres before they could even -hope for success. Hence we find, in the summer of 1880, Sir John -Macdonald, Sir Charles Tupper and John Henry Pope sailing for London, in -company with Stephen and McIntyre, to interest British capitalists. -Englishmen are generally willing to take a “sporting chance” and plunge -into an adventurous scheme. But this project of building a railway -across the continent through Canada’s far stretches of thinly populated -country, with the gigantic engineering problems of the rock region on -the North Shore of Lake Superior and the apparently impenetrable barrier -of the mountains in British Columbia, was too large an order for the -most courageous of London’s money magnates. It is doubtless a good thing -for Canada that the delegation had to return from London empty-handed. -Projects and business concerns owned and operated by long-range -directors and shareholders have never been a huge success in Canada, -unless practically conducted by local advisory boards, and railways are -no exception to that rule. More important still, this fruitless search -for financial assistance put Canadians on their mettle by throwing them -back on their own resources at the outset, and thus developing the -strength and the endeavour which a big undertaking always brings if -bravely attempted. It was a good training in national athleticism, and -the young Dominion that had to wrestle with difficulties at the -beginning developed astonishing strength and initiative power. Later on, -when, within a few months of the last spike on the road, the youthful -giant had reached the limit of resource, and was in danger of falling -short, British capital was to come in to help to a triumphant finish. -But the time was not yet. - -The delegation to London returned to Ottawa in 1880, and the Government -signed a contract with George Stephen, Duncan McIntyre, of Montreal; -James J. Hill, of St. Paul; John S. Kennedy, of New York, and four -outside this continent, Cohen, Renach & Company, of Paris, and Morton, -Rose & Company, of London, though in the latter case it was really the -New York firm of Morton, Bliss & Company that went into the -organization. It is interesting from a psychological standpoint to find -that the name of Donald A. Smith, one of the big three, was not in this -original contract. Ever since the day when Mr. Smith had cast his vote -in the House of Commons, in 1873, against Sir John Macdonald in the -matter of the “Pacific Scandal,” as Macdonald’s opponents called it, or -the “Pacific Slander,” as Sir Charles Tupper designated the affair, -there was, to put it mildly, a coolness between Smith and Sir John. For -these two to be in the conferences that would often arise between the -Canadian Pacific directors and the Government, would throw a wet blanket -on the meetings. Later on these two became punctiliously friendly, and -even though Mr. Smith’s name was not visibly in this original Canadian -Pacific Railway Company, every one knew (including the keen-minded Sir -John) that he was actually in it for all he was worth. - -The contract terms sound generous enough if we could only keep out of -our minds the tremendous extent of the undertaking and the endless risks -taken by the new company, in view of the fact that the real cost of the -railway from ocean to ocean was almost a haphazard conjecture. Up to the -date of the signing of the contract the way through the mountains of -British Columbia was unsettled, and the character of the work on the -North Shore of Lake Superior was practically unknown. That North Shore -problem had frightened Sir Henry Tyler, President of the Grand Trunk, in -London, from going into the Canadian Pacific scheme, partly because that -eternal wilderness had no prospect of local traffic compared with a line -south of the Boundary, but partly also because the interminable miles of -rock to be built through looked too formidable to be attacked. Take it -all round, the terms of the contract signed in Ottawa may have looked -too generous to the man on the street. But only men of courage who -visioned the far future would have set their names to a covenant to -build thousands of miles of a railway which not only some public men, -but some experts also openly declared would “never pay for the axle -grease.” - -Briefly stated, the Government agreed to give the new syndicate the -seven hundred miles of railway already built or under contract to be -built by the Government, together with twenty-five millions in money and -twenty-five millions of acres of selected land in the West. In addition, -the syndicate was promised exemption from import duties on all material -brought in for construction, from taxes on land for twenty years after -Crown patents were issued, as well as freedom from taxes on stock and -other property for all time, together with exemption from regulation of -rates till ten per cent. had been earned on capital invested. To guard -against premature competition by roads connecting with the States, the -Government agreed that for twenty years no charter would be granted to -any railway south of the Canadian Pacific Railway from any point at or -near the Canadian Pacific Railway except such as should run south-west -or westward of south-west; nor to within fifteen miles of the -Boundary-Line. - -In Winnipeg, in my student days in the 80’s, I recall hearing many -rather stormy discussions over this contract at public meetings, because -the West was particularly affected. The two things most strenuously -opposed, as being too generous to the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, -were the grant of land, which was said to be too large, and the section -which prevented competing lines being built to the south. Neither of -these objections ever seemed to me very reasonable. The land grant -looked large; but land was worth very little before the railway came in -to make it valuable. In my boyhood I knew that some of the land along -the Red and Assiniboine Rivers (and there is no better land anywhere) -was sold for fifty cents an acre. If the twenty-five millions of acres -given to the railway were valued at pre-railway prices the amount would -not be great. When the railway was built the price of land went up with -a rush, but it must be borne in mind that it cost the Company millions -to bring the railway in, to make the land worth while. And it should -also be remembered that the railway made other people’s land as valuable -as its own, although the increase to the other people did not cost them -anything beyond their ordinary taxes. In any case the land went up when -the railway came in, but the railway did not come in by magic. It is -interesting to recall in this connection that Sumner, a famous statesman -in the American Republic, once advocated giving half of one of the great -agricultural States in the West to any one who would build a railway -through it, as it was of little use till a railway would enter. What -some people in Canada, who denounced the Government for giving -twenty-five millions of acres, might have said if the Canadian Pacific -Railway had been offered one-half of the Middle West, would probably be -too incoherent to print. - -We may read later something of the cyclonic protests made in my native -Province of Manitoba against the section of the contract which denied to -any others the right to build railways south of the Canadian Pacific -into the States; but, like many other movements, the one against this -temporary monopolistic clause was, to say the least, lacking in proper -perspective. The Canadian Pacific Railway Company, to enable Canada to -keep faith with British Columbia and thus hold Confederation together, -was struggling to build two thousand miles of road over a territory -where there was little prospect for years of a paying traffic. It is -hard to see that it would have been just, without adequate compensation -to the Canadian Pacific, to allow other railways to hamstring the -transcontinental by building in the only region where there was -population enough to give a railway some reasonably remunerative -business. - -A rather peculiar thing was that no one objected to the cash subsidy -except those who attacked the whole business from end to end, as ruinous -to the young Dominion. Reasonable onlookers, however, who knew something -of the tremendous cost of construction over certain sections, thought -the syndicate was mad to tackle it at almost any price. Later on these -reasonable people found justification for their view in the fact that -construction was costing in some sections half-a-million a mile—though -even they would have gasped if they knew that in after years a single -tunnel in the mountains was to cost over eight millions to construct. -There were some who considered that the free gift to the company of -several hundred miles of railway, built by the Government over a term of -years, was too generous. But Canadian Pacific Railway experts in 1889 -testified before an Interstate Commerce Inquiry, and said that parts of -the Government sections were unwisely located, and the cost of joining -up with these unwisely located sections was so great that the amount the -sections were supposed to represent should be heavily discounted. It is -possible that experts will always differ over this big contract of 1880 -which, for years, furnished offensive and defensive political orators -with abundant ammunition in party conflicts. - -As I write these paragraphs regarding the famous contract between the -Canadian Government and the pioneer railway across Canada, I have before -me the Dominion Statute of 1881 in which the contract is incorporated. -It has some rather illuminating clauses, of which I here quote a few. In -the section of the Act in which the Company is required to complete the -work by the year 1891, and the section in which the Government is -required to complete and hand over certain portions of the railway then -under contract, both parties are safeguarded by the words “unless -prevented by the act of God, the Queen’s enemies, intestine -disturbances, epidemics, floods or other causes beyond control.” That -was sufficiently comprehensive to guard against any contingency. There -is a very interesting statement at the conclusion of section 7 of the -Act, where, after saying that the road built by the company and the -portions built by the Government when completed, shall become the -absolute property of the Company, the Act goes on to say: _And the -Company shall thereafter and for ever efficiently maintain, work and run -the Canadian Pacific Railway_. I think the testimony of all is that the -Company is living up to that contract, since its amazing efficiency is -the admiration of the world. But the words “for ever” indicate with -unconscious frankness that the Government had grown weary of Government -construction, ownership and operation of such an immense project, and -was devoutly thankful to hand it over for all time to a responsible -private organization. - -The contract which we have been thus studying had to run the gauntlet -through Parliament, and we shall follow its course there and the new -programme of railway building by the new Company in the ensuing chapter. - - - - - CHAPTER VII - The New Company - - -When the contract with the Canadian Pacific Railway Company was -submitted to the Canadian Parliament, Mr. Edward Blake, then leader of -the Opposition, and his party, met it with a chorus of indignant and -derisive protest. They declared that the Dominion would be ruined by -such a contract and that they intended to fight the matter out before -the House and the country. There is no need now to cast any personal -discredit on Mr. Blake and his following for their action at that time. -He was a man of unblemished name and of intense conviction, as evidenced -by many facts in his distinguished career. And, besides, he and the -leading men in his following then in Ottawa had already committed -themselves at former sessions of Parliament by taking the position that -the Canadian Pacific would have to be built by slow stages if built at -all. Mr. Blake had not then visited the West, and seriously doubted its -future. He and Sir Charles Tupper, who introduced the bill, were the -combatant officers of their respective parties over this railway -problem. So when Mr. Blake declared an itinerating attack on the -Canadian Pacific amongst the people of Ontario, where the Grand Trunk, -the rival road, had been long in undisputed possession, Sir Charles -wrote asking for an opportunity to reply on the same platform. Mr. Blake -answered that he would require all the time each evening, as the subject -was a big one. This was true, and Blake’s exact legal mind led him -generally into more exhaustive detail on any subject than an ordinary -public audience could appreciate. But Sir Charles had girded on his -armour for the fray, and found a plan of action by having his friends -announce at each of Blake’s meetings that Sir Charles would appear in -the same hall the following night to give reply to Mr. Blake. Sir -Charles thus had the advantage of having Mr. Blake’s speech in hand a -few hours after its delivery, and next night was able to assault Mr. -Blake’s position effectively by a characteristic fighting answer. - -To complicate matters for the Government, a rival syndicate was suddenly -formed of Ontario capitalists, headed by Sir William Howland, who -offered to build the railway for three millions less in money and three -millions less in land acreage, and at the same time give up practically -all the privileges which the Government had agreed to allow the Stephen -group. The Government denounced the Howland syndicate as trying to draw -a herring across the trail by making a transparently impossible offer in -an effort to break the contract already signed with the other company. -There is no reason to think that the Howland syndicate, which was -composed of well-known citizens of high standing, would not have tackled -the building of the railway if they had got the contract. But the -Government had already signed with the other organization and, -denouncing the offer of the Howland syndicate as utterly impracticable, -and intended only to hamper the construction of the road, Sir Charles -Tupper rallied the Government forces and put the original contract -through Parliament on a straight vote, in February, 1881. - -We do not dispute the good intentions of the Howland syndicate; but if -the gentlemen of that syndicate really could have seen into the future -they would have breathed a sigh of relief when their offer was rejected. -They had asked for the contract, but it was a mercy for them that their -request was declined without thanks. For if the Stephen men, who knew -the country better and had already some extraordinary allies, came up -later against so many unexpected obstacles that they were more than once -within a hair-breadth of failure, it is safe to say that the Howland -men, with their hurried and unconsidered offer, would have ridden for a -fall, disastrous alike to themselves and to Canada. - -By the action of the Dominion Parliament, in adopting the contract and -giving it the force of law, in February, 1881, the field was clear for -Mr. George Stephen (who was elected President of the new Company) and -his colleagues. They lost no time in unlimbering their artillery and -going into action with the bearing of men who knew they were going to -have a hard battle, but were moving steadily forward as gentlemen -unafraid. - -Concerning Mr. George Stephen (who chose his peerage title from the -mountain that was called after him in British Columbia, and so became -Lord Mount Stephen) much might be written, but he was so unobtrusive -that, as compared with others, hardly anything has been put in print -about the first President. Mr. Smith, his cousin (later Lord -Strathcona), was much better known and more in the public eye, and no -one would think of minimizing Mr. Smith’s great achievements and his -services to Canada and the Empire. But so far as the Canadian Pacific -Railway is concerned, Mr. Smith’s greatest contribution was made when, -after getting in contact with Hill, he persuaded Stephen to branch out -from business in Montreal and become a railroad builder. Once again in -this connection let me emphasize, though it anticipates the narrative -somewhat, the peculiar sequence in the chain of Canadian Pacific men and -events in the following way: Smith secured Stephen, Stephen secured Van -Horne, and Van Horne secured Shaughnessy. It was an extraordinary -succession, and every link in a chain that holds is worthy of equal -honour. These men were different in many ways, but the truth is that, -historically considered, no man ever really takes the place of another, -even though he succeeds him. Each man must do his own work in his own -way and bear his own burden, and in each man’s assertion of his own -individuality we find the true law of human progress. We can standardize -inanimate things such as motor cars, but we are essaying interference -with the Divine order when we try to standardize men. - -George Stephen was the son of a carpenter and was born, in 1829, in -Dufftown, Banffshire, Scotland. His youth was not rose-coloured. He was -educated in the parish school (the world owes much to many an unknown -school-teacher), served for a season as herd-laddie on the glebe at -Mortlach, and then was sent to Aberdeen to learn the drapery business. -One day a customer from Montreal noticed that the clerk signed his name -“George Stephen,” and it turned out that the customer and clerk were -cousins. As a result the young clerk was taken out to Montreal and -showed such devotion to business and such capacity, that he became -President of the great Bank of Montreal when he was a little over forty -years of age. He was a man of a high sense of honour and of intense -powers of concentration. He had public gifts and could speak well on -political and other topics, but all through life he applied himself -principally to business and the development of the country. Years -afterwards, when the one-time “herd laddie” at Mortlach and draper’s -apprentice had become a man of wealth and a peer of the realm, -recognized amongst the foremost as a builder of the Empire, he was -presented with the freedom of the city of Aberdeen. In his reply to the -address of presentation, he shattered some modern theories as to the -making of men by saying: “Any success I may have had in life is due in a -great measure to the somewhat Spartan training I received during my -Aberdeen apprenticeship, in which I entered as a boy of fifteen. I had -but few wants and no distractions to draw me away from the work I had in -hand. I soon discovered that if I ever accomplished anything in life it -would be by pursuing my object with a persistent determination to attain -it. I had neither the training nor the talents to accomplish anything -without hard work, and, fortunately, I knew it.” All of which would be a -good motto for every young lad to paste in his hat, so that he would see -it frequently. It is well also to remember that Sir George made good use -of the wealth he gained in later years by laborious effort. His -benefactions were wide-spread, amongst them being the contribution of -half-a-million, to go with a like amount from Lord Strathcona, into the -establishment of the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal. And when Dr. -Barclay retired from St. Paul’s Church in the same city, it was Lord -Mount Stephen who supplemented the donations of others by a princely -gift in bonds to the minister of his Montreal days. - -It was this great man, George Stephen, then, who became President of the -new Canadian Pacific Railway Company in 1880, and continued in that -responsible office for the eight most critical years of the company’s -struggle to live and conquer. On him, in the grim days ahead, was to -rest most heavily the burden of financing, although his cousin, Mr. D. -A. Smith, was forward in securing the help of financial magnates at -every opportunity. The time was to come when these two were to pledge -all their private possessions to keep the Canadian Pacific going on to -completion. I think it worth while to say here that none of these men -seemed to care about money as an end, although they appreciated its -value as a means to achievement. They had no reason to go into the -Canadian Pacific Railway undertaking to make money, for when they began -it they all had enough. In fact it is well known that some of them -demurred strongly at first for fear they would be left penniless in -their old age. But they were all amenable to the appeal for the building -of Canada, and that was sufficient. In this connection it is interesting -to recall that on May 26th, 1887, Mr. Smith (Strathcona) said in the -House of Commons, “The First Minister will bear me out when I say that -Sir George Stephen and the other members of the syndicate did not -approach the Government with regard to the building of the Canadian -Pacific Railway until the Government had tried in Europe and elsewhere -to get others to take it up, capable of carrying it through, but had not -succeeded in this. I say distinctly that the gentlemen who undertook the -charter, although at first unwilling to assume the responsibility, -ultimately consented, more with a view of assisting to open up the -country than from any expectation of gain to be derived from it.” It is -equally interesting to note, in this same connection, the attitude of -Mr. James J. Hill, who once wrote to an old Canadian friend saying, “I -think you know that I am not anxious about the money part of it. I am -sure I have all and more than all I will ever want and all that will be -good for those who come after me.” - -It was in this spirit, then—that of Empire-builders, rather than -money-makers—that President Stephen and his associates took up, in -1881, the tremendous task of building the Canadian Pacific Railway -across the Dominion of Canada. It was the wide West-land that had called -the transcontinental into the orbit of public vision, and though, when -Eastern connections would be made, it was inevitable that the -headquarters of the road would be in Montreal, where the leading -directors lived, offices were first of all opened in Winnipeg. Canada, -as already noted, was young in the railway business. Later on she would -find her own men for leaders in every department, as we know by this -time she has done. But in those days Canada had to go to her big cousin, -the American Republic, for railway experts. And so Mr. A. B. Stickney, -who was later President of the Chicago and Great Western, was installed -as General Superintendent in Winnipeg. With him came, as Chief Engineer, -General Rosser, who had been a dashing Confederate cavalry officer in -the Civil War. Those were my school days in Winnipeg, and I recall -seeing Rosser once—a man of very distinguished bearing. But, for -various reasons, neither he nor Stickney remained long, though I confess -I never pass the little station of Rosser just west of Winnipeg, but I -visualize again the tall, handsome Southerner after whom it was called -in those early days. - -When these men were going, Stephen turned again to his old friend Hill, -who knew all about railroad men, and Hill recommended William Cornelius -Van Horne, then General Superintendent of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. -Paul. This was another of Hill’s great contributions to his native -Canada. Though these two strong men, Hill and Van Horne, eventually -became rivals and heads of practically opposing systems, they doubtless, -to the end, recognized the consummate ability of each other. If they had -to contend at times they could at least realize - - “That stern joy which warriors feel - In foeman worthy of their steel.” - -In any case, Hill’s commendation of Van Horne to Stephen in 1881 was -whole hearted and emphatic. Hill said that of all the men he knew Mr. -Van Horne was altogether the best equipped, both mentally and every -other way. A pioneer was needed, and the more of a pioneer the better. -And to this Mr. Hill added, in his message to Stephen, “You need a man -of great physical and mental power to carry the line through. Van Horne -can do it. But he will take all the authority he gets and more; so -define how much you want him to have.” This last was a well-meant—and -somewhat necessary admonition. Mr. Stephen then offered Van Horne a -bigger salary than any one in a similar position had ever received in -this country. I do not think that the salary was the main thing with Van -Horne. Neither would I say that he did not take it into consideration. -He was such a many-sided man that he seemed like several men. He could -be lavish in entertaining or spending for things that he specially -fancied. But he could be close in other ways. No doubt the unprecedented -salary was, in his mind, worthy of thought. And one cannot wonder at -that, because he was asked to give up a high position in the railway -work of the States, with a presidency certain there in a few years at -most. He was, in fact, staking the prospects of a career on his decision -in favour of moving. But he did not decide to move without some idea of -the prospects of the country to which he was invited. So he made a sort -of incognito visit to Winnipeg, and took some survey of the vast plains. -He saw the possibilities of unlimited grain and root production, and -noted the practically inexhaustible soil along the Red River, where the -Selkirk settlers had been sowing and reaping for three-quarters of a -century. It is interesting to find here, as noted by writers on Van -Horne’s life, special allusion to the Selkirk settlers. These settlers -were stated in an early chapter of the book to be a factor in leading to -the inception of the Canadian Pacific Railway undertaking, as they had -demonstrated the agricultural possibilities of the West. And they are -mentioned by Van Horne’s biographer, Mr. Vaughan, as one of the elements -whose demonstration of the country’s suitability for the world’s -foundation industry helped to draw to Canada the extraordinary man who, -in the face of apparently insuperable obstacles, threw a railway line -across her wide-flung spaces. - - - - -[Illustration: LORD MOUNT STEPHEN - _First President_ - - LORD SHAUGHNESSY - _Early Financier and Third President_ - - SIR WILLIAM VAN HORNE - _First General Manager and Second President_ - - _Early Builders_] - - - - -One wonders yet at the fact that Van Horne left an assured career in his -own land, the richest country in the world, to come to the Canadian -West, which was then, and for some years afterwards, as I recall it, a -sort of illimitable and sparsely inhabited wilderness. He came to -undertake a railway building project such as neither his own country or -any other in the world had ever planned in similar circumstances. No -doubt he, with the keen mentality which flashed out in many varied -gifts, foresaw the country’s future. But no doubt also, as his -biographer above-mentioned affirms, and as men, like Sir George Bury, -who were intimately yoked up with him in practical work on the road -declare, it was the difficulty of the work that successfully appealed to -him. The fighting spirit of his imperturbable and determined Netherlands -ancestors rose to the challenge of the opportunity, to satisfy what Mr. -Vaughan calls his master passion “to make things grow and put new places -on the map.” So, after visiting Winnipeg and the plains, Van Horne -accepted Stephen’s offer and came from the States to become a great -Canadian who, without forgetting his lineage, grew into a deep devotion -to his adopted country. - -Reference has been made already to the many-sidedness of this colossus -amongst railway builders. Once, many years after his coming, I recall -meeting Mr. Van Horne at a dinner in Lord Strathcona’s house in -Montreal, when nearly all the leading business men of their group were -present. I happened to be in the city at the time, and as Lord -Strathcona and my father had been close friends in the old Fort Garry -days, he asked me up to that dinner. Gentleman of the old school that he -was, with the courteous manner and considerateness of the perfect host, -he asked Mr. Van Horne to show me through the picture gallery. I had -known Mr. Van Horne in a general way as a forceful railroader who had -begun in railway work at the age of fourteen, and knew it from the -ground upwards in practically all departments, and I also knew something -of his taste in art. But I was hardly prepared for the wealth of the -acquaintance with painting and literature which his conversation, in -easy, flowing language, revealed that evening. And yet this was the same -Van Horne who could make men quake with the strength of his invective -against incompetency or carelessness in work, and who was apparently at -times a mere impersonal dynamo for the purpose of driving seemingly -impossible enterprises to completion. There was something more than -Napoleonic in the way in which he abolished the word “fail” from the -dictionary as he drove his undertakings onward. And yet again he was an -inveterate player of practical jokes, and was, on occasion, a sort of -big boy with a sufficient spice of fun about him to keep things from -becoming dull. If he knew how to work he also knew how to relax, and -that is a great thing. - -It was this composite man, then, who, at President Stephen’s call, threw -up golden prospects in his own country and came up to Winnipeg on New -Year’s eve in 1881, to take practical command of a vast new -problematical enterprise. His powers may have been defined by Stephen -and his associates, but the definition must have been very much -tantamount to a free hand, as the sequel will show. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - A Constructive Genius - - -Mr Van Horne, who was a native son of Joliet, Illinois, struck Winnipeg -just as 1882 was dawning, and the thermometer was ranging around forty -below zero. Those of us who were born in or near Winnipeg can testify -that in such an hour the ozone makes one tingle with energy, and leads -to an active life as a natural consequence. Van Horne was an embodiment -of driving power anyway, and perhaps the stimulating atmosphere raised -that power to a high algebraic degree. Certain it is that every one -around Winnipeg, especially in the service of the new railway, realized -that a human projectile had been shot into the community and that things -had to move on under its impulse or move out of the way. So distinctly -was this felt, that not only was the climate rather frigid, but the -social atmosphere around offices and clubs took on a certain degree of -coolness. That any one should come in from the outside and, after a -brief survey, should start in to make swift changes and equally swift -appointments, regardless of social or political influence, was not -likely to make the man who so acted a general favourite. But in a short -time the marvellous efficiency of the man commended him to everybody -worth while. His bigness in ignoring any prejudice against him, his -hearty, magnetic and utterly unaffected personality, soon won the -respect of his men in all ranks and he in turn came swiftly to have a -high respect for the courage, ability and initiative of the Canadian -people. For a while he had to have around him some experts from his own -country, like that Master-Superintendent, John M. Egan, whose ability as -a practical railroad builder was a great asset to the new enterprise. -But Van Horne soon had a small army of Canadians in training under his -own leadership, and to them he became deeply attached. It is now, at -least, an open secret that when men back in the States heard that his -reception in Winnipeg was rather cool they sent him word “to come back -to your friends and let the Canadians build their own road.” But Van -Horne, knowing that his own brusque entry and method laid him open to -some blame for the situation, and knowing also the solid worth of the -people to whom he had come, declined to return. Again, a few years -later, when the Canadian Pacific Railway project seemed on the point of -failure for lack of funds, even though the Directors had put their all -in the great venture, some one said to Van Horne that he need not worry, -because there were positions waiting for him across the line any time he -wished to go there. But he stood by his guns and said that he was not -going back to the States—“I’m not going to leave the work I have begun. -I’m going to see it through, no matter what position is open to me in -the United States.” The time was to come, however, when even the iron -nerves and the tremendous staying power of this apparently stolid and -determined scion of the Netherlands were to be tried to the limit, and -when Van Horne found in Canadian men the invincible spirit which made -their joint work a sort of miraculous success. - -In the meantime, when he had done some highly necessary things in -Winnipeg, in that fateful year of 1882, he went down to Montreal to meet -President Stephen and the Directors. No doubt there was a mutual “sizing -up” of each other, but with satisfactory results. The President and Van -Horne took to each other at once, and became thenceforward the two that -did the most perfect team work. But they could not have pulled the -enterprise far without the steady, persistent co-operation of the other -Directors. They all got into the harness and they all fell in with the -Western teamster’s homely prescription for success: “Keep the tugs -tight; never mind the hold-backs.” - -Thenceforth Van Horne became, till the completion of the -Transcontinental, the trusted railway expert and, in this regard, -completely supplanted Hill, who had been the only man of the original -Canadian Pacific Syndicate who was a practical railroader. Under the -leadership of Van Horne, Canada would now begin to grow her own railway -men as a home product. - -One of the items taken up on the occasion of Mr. Van Horne’s first visit -to Montreal was the construction of the Railway over the rock-wilderness -on the North Shore of Lake Superior. The Mackenzie Government, as we -have seen, thought that section could wait for a somewhat indefinite -period, and in the meantime Mackenzie said that the great fresh-water -sea could be used as a link in transportation. Then, when the -Stephen-Hill Syndicate was formed, both of these gentlemen agreed with -the policy of not constructing that section until there was more -settlement in the West. But Stephen and Hill, not believing in the tardy -water-stretches as links in railway construction, proposed to build from -the East to Sault Ste. Marie, and there join up with a branch of Hill’s -road, the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba, to which, as the architect -of their fortunes, they were financially and otherwise attached. This of -course would have given Hill, in large measure, the control of Canadian -traffic from East to West. - -It will be recalled that neither Sir John Macdonald nor Sir Charles -Tupper, his fighting Railway Minister, approved of this American link in -the road, and that in England they had broken with Sir Henry Tyler, of -the Grand Trunk, on that particular point. And when Van Horne went east -to meet the Directors in 1882, he made short work of the plan which both -Stephen and Hill had cherished. He felt that to give Hill’s road the -haulage of through Canadian traffic over a section of his track would -make the Canadian Pacific a sort of subsidiary of his line, and such a -situation was abhorrent both to Van Horne’s railroad instincts and to -his estimate of his ability to run his own road. In a proper sense of -the word Van Horne was always egoist enough to assert his own dignity -when occasion required. In fact he would let no man rob him of the -opportunity of boasting on any occasion when it seemed legitimate and -necessary. Hence, when he met the Canadian Pacific Directors, at that -first meeting, he drew for them a verbal picture of what the traffic on -an all-Canadian route from ocean to ocean was to be in the future, and -by the time he was through his visualizing, the President and the other -Directors let this new General Manager have his will. Van Horne was no -half-way man, and when he started out to build the Canadian Pacific -Railway he was going to put emphasis on the word and idea of Canadian. -The day was to come when, despite some partisan and political -mud-throwing, all true Canadians would acknowledge that the big -railroader was right. Of course, this action of Van Horne and the -Directors was, as already intimated, the last straw for Hill. He was too -keen and clear-headed a man not to understand that he and Van Horne, -with their big projects more or less competitive, could not work -together to advantage. So he withdrew with some emphasis, but we are not -to forget that he made railroaders of Stephen, Smith and Angus, and that -through his recommendation, Van Horne came to Canada. The Canadian boy, -James J. Hill, who had left his home in Rockwood, Ontario, to seek his -fortune in the States, and become a maker of its North-West, also did, -for various reasons and motives, a good day’s work for his native land. - -When Van Horne met the Directors in Montreal they discussed also the -momentous question of the route to be followed. When Sandford Fleming -was Chief Engineer during the regime of the Hon. Alexander Mackenzie, -the line was mapped out to cross the Red River at Selkirk, thence -westward through the North Saskatchewan country, crossing the Rockies by -the Yellowhead Pass, and so on to the Pacific. But the Canadian Pacific -Railway Company, in 1881, decided for a southerly route through -Winnipeg, and across the plains and then through the mountains by the -Kicking Horse Pass. For the most part the engineers preferred the -Yellowhead Pass, on account of the comparatively easy grades and fewer -obstacles in the way. Van Horne favoured the Kicking Horse Pass and the -Directors agreed to that also, although up to that time there had been -no pass discovered through the Selkirk range that lay right beyond the -Rockies like an impregnable rampart. But if no pass was found through -the Selkirks, the track might be laid in a more roundabout way along the -Columbia. Once again these men were making a big venture under the -leadership of Van Horne, who seemed to be having pretty much his own way -at the Board meeting. The Directors had secured him at a large salary -because he was a practical railroader, and they were evidently going to -give him opportunity to earn it by letting him assume heavy -responsibility. - -The change of route from the Yellowhead to the more difficult Kicking -Horse Pass has been much discussed and, in some considerable degree, -criticized. But there were weighty reasons for the change as Van Horne -saw them. The transcontinental route from the East through the Kicking -Horse Pass was one hundred and twenty-five miles shorter that the other, -and that is an item, when the costs of construction were considered, as -well as time in the trip across the continent. Besides that, the Kicking -Horse route, if adopted, would preclude the possibility of any railway -building between the Canadian Pacific and the boundary-line and thus -draining traffic towards the States. The great valleys of the Kootenay, -the Columbia and the Okanagan were more accessible by the Kicking Horse -route, and such valleys are supreme in productiveness in British -Columbia. And I am not sure but Mr. Van Horne, with his strong sense of -the artistic and the scenic splendour of the southern route, felt that -in the future it would, as a tourist route of unequalled attractiveness, -become one of the greatest and most remunerative assets of the Canadian -Pacific Railway. The supremacy of the Kicking Horse route in that regard -has been fully recognized by world-travellers. The famous Sir Edwin -Arnold, author of “The Light of Asia,” who had been in practically all -countries, one day said to Mr. Castell Hopkins, of Toronto, as they met -on a Canadian Pacific Railway train in the Rockies, “These vast ranges -exceed in grandeur the Himalayas, the Alps and the Andes, all of which I -have seen.” The matchlessly inspiring scenery of this route will always -remain to make it an irresistible magnet to tourists and travellers -generally. For the rest of it, any problem in gradients will vanish at -any time desired, by the lowering of grades and electrification, if ever -the situation demands such action. - -Before leaving the Kicking Horse Pass discussion, it may be interesting -to some of our readers to relate the origin of this striking name. When -I first went down along the river I recall some one on the train who -told his version by saying that the name was given to the river because -as it rushed down the grade it was constantly thrown back in splashing -spray by the rocks, as if by the kicking of a horse. This is a poetic -description of a very turbulent stream where the rocks look vicious -enough to kick anything to pieces that might be hurled against them, but -it is not the real origin of the name. The prosaic fact is that when, in -1858, Capt. Palliser and Dr. (later Sir James) Hector were exploring the -region they were leaving the camp by this river one morning and Hector, -while trying to round up a straying packhorse, was kicked in the chest -by his own riding horse as he was passing him. Hector was laid up in the -camp for several days, and the incident was so impressed on the -explorers that they anathematized and immortalized this lively animal by -calling the river and pass after him. - -When Mr. Van Horne went back to Winnipeg from the meeting of Directors -in 1882, things looked well around that Western gateway city because the -advent of the Canadian Pacific had given rise to a real-estate boom -whose intoxicating influence had gone to people’s heads so that they -were all hilariously rich, at least in imagination, and, therefore, -indomitably optimistic. This phase of undue excitement passed, but -Winnipeg is my old home city, and hence I am able to testify that in no -city with which I am acquainted was it so true, as it used to be said of -the people of Winnipeg, that “they lived on hope.” - -However, it remains true also that the collapse of that famous Western -real-estate boom, the crash of which affected every place from the Great -Lakes to the mountains, made the task of the Canadian Pacific Board and -Mr. Van Horne an exceedingly difficult one right at the outset. The -sudden deflation in Western land values and the large number of business -failures through the recession of the boom wave shook the faith of -outsiders in the country’s future and depressed the people within the -country at the same time. I have known the West all my life, but I do -not recall any period more generally discouraging than that -after-the-boom period in the 80’s, during which the Canadian Pacific -Railway was begun and carried to an amazingly successful completion. The -sudden drop in everything, as well as the rumblings and then the -outbreak of the Riel Rebellion on the plains, put, in large measure, a -damper on immigration; and railway building through an uninhabited land -is not exhilarating work. - -These were local conditions, but there were other things which sprang up -at the very beginning to make the way of the new railway company hard. A -few of these things may be indicated for the benefit of the superficial -people who think the Canadian Pacific got an easy start. In reality it -had from the first to fight every foot of the way against adverse -influences. When the Company had to do its financing it found -influential forces barring the doors. The Grand Trunk, with its host of -big Directors and shareholders in the Old Country, attacked the new -transcontinental which would be sure to invade its rich reserves in -Eastern Canada; and so the London market was, in large measure, cold to -any efforts made by the new Canadian Pacific Board to raise money in the -world’s financial centre. Similarly the United States railways which -were headed for the Pacific saw the danger of a successful Canadian -rival, and did all they could to prevent the Canadian Pacific from -securing any money in New York. With hostile forces thus operating in -these two famous money centres, any one can understand that the new -Canadian venture was in for a bad time. And we have to add to all these -barbed-wire fences around the money markets abroad, the regrettable fact -of almost constant nagging and criticism in Canada from sources of such -wide range as the “will-never-pay-for-axle-grease” politicians, and the -men who wished to cut in with the railway lines in productive territory -while the Canadian Pacific was struggling to cross leagues of unpeopled -rocks and plains, not to mention the people who thought the new road -should benevolently carry everything for them at bare cost. - -Keen-minded men like Mr. Van Horne and the Directors of the Canadian -Pacific, saw that the way ahead bristled with difficulties. But they -declined to quail. They had started on a great adventure and they were -looking far ahead so steadily that they were saved from morbid -contemplation of what lay between them and the final triumph. Their -attitude toward the unproductive Lake Superior North Shore rock-wastes -was typically prophetic. Despite the derisive critics who always have -ridiculed the inception of big undertakings, the Canadian Pacific -Railway men looked beyond the North Shore to the West-land that would -someday become the granary of the Empire. Thus did they keep their -courage alive. Like a famous warrior of old, they refused to see the -intervening difficulties while they knew that across somewhere was the -land of promise and the triumph that was worth a great struggle to -attain. - -When Van Horne left that meeting of Directors in Montreal he hurried -back to Winnipeg with the fire of a great railway-building battle in his -eye. He felt he had the support of a strong and determined body of men, -and they were fully satisfied that they had in Van Horne a man worth -backing. They all began to realize very vividly, from the attitude of -the financial world as above outlined, that the fabled achievements of -Hercules would have to be made real in the building of the road. Van -Horne, as the practical builder, set his mind on his own side of the -work. His energy had been pretty well tested out in the States, but he -knew perfectly well that anything he had done hitherto was child’s play -compared to what he was now going to attempt. I was much interested the -other day in coming across an item somewhere which suggested that, some -years before, Van Horne had been contemplating building a railway in the -Western States to tap the Canadian North-West. The vast unpeopled -territory, labelled on his map, “British possessions,” appealed to his -pioneering and adventurous spirit. It was the land of romance and -mystery and of illimitable possibilities, where he could blaze new -trails and build steel highways over a territory bigger than -half-a-dozen European kingdoms. - -And now his opportunity had come in an unexpected, but better, fashion, -and, as stated, he set his mind upon it with a sort of terrifying -concentration. He found that Government contractors in 1881 had built -some 160 miles of railway on the plains. He told the Directors in -Montreal that he would build 500 miles on the prairie in 1882. He -started in to do it and looked to the Directors to pay the bills. Some -years after it was all over Van Horne said one day, as a tribute to the -President, “Stephen did more work and harder work than I did. I had only -to build the road, but Stephen had to find the money.” Those who -remember them both are ready to say that the honours were even. Each did -his part well and each had many helpers. - -In view of the fact already stated, that Canada was new to the -railway-building business, it is surprising to find that Mr. Van Horne -brought very few assistants from the States. Besides Egan, who did most -excellent work in construction days out of Winnipeg, Kelson of the -Milwaukee road was brought to be general storekeeper at Winnipeg. There -was urgent need of a key man in Montreal to be the general purchasing -agent for the whole road. And as everything had to be purchased for a -new undertaking an altogether unusual man was required. Besides other -supplies, the man who came as purchasing agent would have to be a sort -of quarter-master-general to feed an industrial army spread out in a -long line from East to West and with practically no line of -communication along which to transport the necessaries of life. For that -position Mr. Van Horne had his eye on a young man named Thomas G. -Shaughnessy, who had been on his staff in Milwaukee. Mr. Van Horne had -opened up offices over the Bank of Montreal on Main Street in Winnipeg. -“One day,” says Mr. E. A. James, who was then Mr. Van Horne’s private -telegraph operator, “there came into the outer office a -fashionably-dressed, alert young man, sporting a cane and giving general -evidence of being what we call a live wire. He asked for Mr. Van Horne -and gave his name as Shaughnessy. I looked up Mr. Van Horne in another -office and gave him the message. He said to the gentleman to whom he was -speaking, ‘I am glad Tom has come; he is the man I want for general -purchasing agent.’” And thus another notable star swung into the orbit -of the new company. But beyond these just mentioned to take hold at the -beginning, Mr. Van Horne said no one else was needed from outside, as -the new General Manager found Canadians so full of initiative and energy -that he had no difficulty in getting men of calibre and zeal without -going beyond the Dominion. - -Incidentally it may be mentioned that a fire took place in the building -during that winter of 1882, and the offices of the railway and the Bank -had to be moved to temporary quarters in the old Knox Church building. -There Mr. Van Horne occupied the vestry and Mr. I. G. Ogden, who became -famous as auditor and finance minister for the road, held office space -in the library of the Sunday school, while the bank itself did business -in what had been the main auditorium of the church. The quarters were -unusual and not very convenient, but the atmosphere would be good. - -It was still winter of the year in which Van Horne had said he would -build 500 miles of the road on the prairie. He had to wait for the -spring’s approach; but meanwhile he was stacking up supplies at -Winnipeg, “from the ends of the earth,” as people there said, and in -enormous quantities—rails from Britain and the Continent, ties from the -woods east of Winnipeg, stone from every available quarry within reach, -lumber from the Minnesota country and from the Lake of the Woods. Much -of this came in during the frozen months by rail from the south, and the -yardmen in the States were delighted to send along whole trains of -material for “Van Horne’s road” as they called it. The main thing was to -get the stuff forward. And Van Horne kept the wires hot in seeing that -there would be no delay. - - - - -[Illustration: - LORD SHAUGHNESSY - - LORD STRATHCONA - (_Donald A. Smith_) - - LADY STRATHCONA - - _An Interesting Group_] - - - - -He became suddenly the organizer of an army—not for destruction, but -for construction—a great mobile force which was to move steadily -forward under the direction of his genius and daring. That army was to -use high explosives and unbounded physical energy, but it was with a -purpose to enrich and not to devastate the country. It was to use -ploughshares instead of swords, but its victories were to be certain and -enduring. The fight was to be hot and at times the line would waver, but -there would be no retreat. It will be interesting to follow that army -with two such leaders as Van Horne as the master builder and Shaughnessy -as the matchless provider of supplies. - - - - - CHAPTER IX - Crossing the Prairie - - -In 1882, when Van Horne began to swing his cohorts of contractors and -their men into the struggle to build a half-thousand miles of railway -westward beyond Winnipeg, the Red River went on an angry rampage and -flooded out the city and the surrounding country. This was somewhat of a -damper at the beginning and, as the sequel proved, it clipped a few -miles off the anticipated record. But a record was made notwithstanding. -Experienced railway contractors were required, and Van Horne brought -Langdon & Sheppard from St. Paul and gave them the work of building from -Oak Lake in Manitoba straight across the plains to Calgary. This was a -large order, and the contractors evidently knew it, for they startled -the community by advertising for an army of three thousand men and four -thousand horses. Those who recall conditions at that time will readily -concede that there was no unemployment problem abroad in those busy -days. No one worth while needed to be unemployed when Van Horne was -forcing an undertaking to completion. And to make quite sure that things -would be properly completed, this railway building enthusiast organized -a large gang of men under his own orders who would follow up the -contractors and give the finishing touches after the aforesaid -contractors had complied with the literal requirements of their -agreement to lay the steel. One can readily see that this flying column -of Van Horne’s would keep the contractors moving ahead rapidly, lest the -flying column should be treading on their heels and remarking on their -tardiness. And one can see also that this follow-up work would lead to -the soundness of the road-bed for which this pioneer railway was noted -from the beginning. Construction was amazingly rapid, but there were no -chances taken in regard to the safety of the road. - -And so these thousands of men and horses were feverishly, but -systematically, at work on the plains, where not many years before the -buffalo had roamed with earth-shaking tread. The ploughs and scrapers of -this great constructive army were making their way through the buffalo -wallows and casting up a high grade where once the Red River cart had -worn deep ruts in the rich black mould. Some of us recall busy days on -the farms or the hayfield, riding and working on the plains, and, as -boys, we had sometimes a feeling that the time of labour was unduly -prolonged. Hours of work were not limited in those days, except by -darkness and dew at either end of the day. But Mr. Van Horne’s army -became unlimited as to time, because there were relays working in the -night, building bridges and culverts and laying track when conditions -allowed—a sort of sleepless army that moved on without cessation. In -this way some three miles a day were finished enough to allow the -construction trains to follow up with their gigantic loads of material -and food for men and horses. In the spring-time there was not much grass -for the horses, and all grain had then to be imported to a country which -is now the greatest grain-exporting region in the world. Trainloads of -stuff were constantly passing over United States roads all the way from -the New York seaport, and hundreds of checkers reported on their -whereabouts every day, so that they could be counted on by a certain -time. All this matter of material was in the wonderfully capable hands -of Mr. Shaughnessy, whose brain worked with such unerring activity and -precision that supplies were kept up to the minute. Shaughnessy’s office -in Montreal was as great a hive of industry as was Van Horne’s moving -army on the plains. And men learned, as they had never learned before, -that brain and brawn were both necessary to the carrying on of the -world’s business and that these are mutually dependent on each other. -Capital, labour and management are the inseparable three in the material -success of great undertakings, and when the world discovers how these -can co-operate and share the results in proper proportion, we will have -industrial peace and progress on the earth. That vast army of -road-makers on the plains would have been helpless without the directing -minds of the men who were the brain centres that kept all in active -movement, and the converse is equally the case. And a certain nation -that has recently experimented in a new social order by destroying or -exiling its men of brain is the outstanding warning of our time against -such suicidal folly. - -During this period of prairie construction there was something almost -uncanny in the way in which Mr. Van Horne seemed to be everywhere. Now -in his office in Winnipeg and now on the plains, riding on flat cars or -hand cars or in cabooses or, where the rails were not laid, in wagons -and buckboards over the prairie. He knew railroading from the ground up -and did not hesitate to ventilate his views forcibly if necessary. He -would discharge, off-hand, men who were indifferent to their work or who -were disposed to shirk carrying out his orders. He sometimes ordered the -impossible; but he expected men to try the impossible without question. -And yet there was, withal, a heartiness, enthusiasm, magnetism and -energetic competency about the big chief that commanded the admiration -of the men. They admired his courage and nerve in going on inspection -trips, where, despite his weight, he walked ties and trestles at dizzy -heights and did other daring things. His practiced eye could calculate -what was dangerous or otherwise. One day he asked an engine-driver to go -across a ticklish-looking place and the driver demurred. Van Horne, who -could drive an engine as well as anyone, said, “Get down and I will take -her over myself,” and the engineer had such faith in Van Horne’s -judgment that he said, “If you’re not scared I guess I aint,” and over -he went to the other side. - -Under this energetic and unquestioned leadership of Van Horne who, at -the same time, saw that the men had abundant food of the best quality -obtainable, there was record railway building accomplished on the plain -in 1882, there being in one place a phenomenal register of twenty miles -in three days. But the handicap of the Red River flood in the spring had -delayed operations, and it began to look as if the promised 500 miles of -road in 1882 would not materialize. Van Horne called the engineers and -contractors together and, metaphorically speaking, read them the Riot -Act and demanded that they get on with the work at a faster pace. They -declared they were driving to the limit, but that the estimate could not -be reached. Van Horne threatened to cancel their contracts unless they -would bring in more men and horses and get ahead. This the contractors -did and with the added equipment they worked till stopped by the winter -cold. Even then Van Horne brought up his flying column and continued -until nothing more could be done on the frozen prairie. Then on taking -stock it was found that, counting sidings and a section on the -South-western Branch in Manitoba, the estimate had been passed, although -the actual work on the main line showed about 445 miles, with some more -graded ready for the spring. The whole thing was looked on as phenomenal -and all the railway world wondered. The Company Directors in Montreal -were delighted, and they, in turn, delighted the Dominion Government by -declaring that, instead of taking ten years as allowed by the contract, -to complete the road from ocean to ocean, the Canadian Pacific would be -in operation across the continent in little more than half that time. -When one considers that the part of the road built up to the end of -1882, being across the plains, was the easiest section, and that the -Laurentian rock wilderness around Lake Superior, as well as the ramparts -of the vast mountains, had still to be attacked, the fearless optimism -of the Directors and their whirlwind railway builder was amazing. But -the work that had been accomplished showed the Government and the people -of Canada that things of an unprecedented kind in railway annals were -being done in their new country. And it also created in the hearts of -people from sea to sea such a feeling of nationhood that they began to -realize the illimitable possibilities of Canada. To such an extent was -this true that when, later, a day came in which the Company needed the -reinforcement of Government backing to carry through the project in the -face of unexpected and gigantic obstacles, that temporary backing was -finally given with the general approval of all but a few chronic -opponents of the road. No thinking person now ever affirms that the -Government was wrong in the emergent action taken at a crisis time in -the history of Canada. - -When the spring of 1883 opened Van Horne was facing the problem of -building on the rocky North Shore, finishing the prairie section and -then storming the bastions of the mountains which seemed to frown -defiance against the invader of their sublime precincts. The North Shore -came first of the new sections, as the prairie region could be left to -the ordinary routine now that it had gone so far towards the foothills, -and would proceed as a matter of course on into the mountains. It was -not comforting in that anxious hour to the Directors of the Canadian -Pacific and to Van Horne, who had declined to accept any alternative to -the North Shore line, to find that, to head off help from financial men, -both they and the people who would back them in their big undertaking -were held up to ridicule by a Grand Trunk pamphlet issued in London, the -money centre of the world. The famous pamphlet practically stated that -to build, under the contract, a railway across the North Shore of Lake -Superior, was a piece of madness, and hence that men of finance who -backed it should be looked after by their friends. It was not comforting -reading for the Canadian Pacific men at that particular juncture, but it -was a good answer later on to those politicians and agitators who talked -as if the Canadian Pacific had despoiled the Dominion in order to build -their transcontinental road. The Grand Trunk pamphlet said that the -country north of the Lake was a perfect blank even on the maps of -Canada. All that is known of the region, it said, is that, “It would be -impossible to construct this one section for the whole cash subsidy -provided by the Canadian Government for the entire scheme.” Thus out of -the mouth of a hostile witness there is evidence that the Canadian -Pacific Railway subsidy, as outlined in the contract, was considered -utterly inadequate, even by men who were making special study of railway -undertakings. - -In reality the Grand Trunk pamphlet was, in so far as the cost of -construction was concerned, based upon a pretty sound conjecture. The -cost of the North Shore was terrific and, doubtless, there and at other -places, many a contractor discovered that unexpected difficulties had -upset his calculations. It is worth while to say here, as applicable to -the whole undertaking, that, though the contractors did not know it -during the period of their work, the Canadian Pacific, on discovering -that a contractor had lost seriously, began investigation with the -desire to give a square deal. If they found that the contractor had -taken reasonable precautions with his estimates and calculations, but -had met with conditions and obstacles beyond his power to have foreseen, -or to control when they arose, the Company, without any ostentation, -took steps to save deserving men from loss as far as possible. No -company in commercial life can be a benevolent association in the -ordinary sense, nor can it be reckless with the funds of shareholders -who have invested their money in its undertakings. But from the -beginning, the Canadian Pacific, while bearing all that in mind, made a -reputation for dealing with men, in all matters, in a big way, till, -with the passing of the years, there was built up a tradition which made -mean and small things a positive contradiction of the Company’s policy. - -Mr. Van Horne did not require to read the above-mentioned Grand Trunk -pamphlet to learn about the difficulty of building on the North Shore of -Lake Superior. He knew all that a great deal better than the -pamphleteer. The North Shore was a big problem. But as Sir Charles -Tupper, the war-like minister of Railways, once said of this railroader: -“No problem that ever arose had any terrors for him.” - -Van Horne, therefore, went ahead. He attacked the problem from the great -lake whose north shore he was going to iron down or fill up to a level -roadway for the steel track. He decided, therefore, that for the most -part he would not build far back from the shore even though tracklaying -might be easier there, for he wanted to land supplies for the work by -water transportation. This would be cheaper and would facilitate -distribution. In order to carry out this plan he acquired the Toronto, -Grey and Bruce Railway, and thus made connection between the East and -the Lake at Owen Sound. From that point he had steamers to carry the -supplies and land them at certain distances along the North Shore. When -the winter set in, these supplies were distributed by horse and mule -teams and even by dog-trains, where the snow and the ice on the little -lakes off the main shore permitted. With the advent of the summer, small -boats on these little lakes, and wagons elsewhere, were used to -distribute endless loads of material along the right of way. - -Though supplies were thus on hand, it was 1884 before tracklaying on the -North Shore was regularly in operation. We get some idea of the -immensity of the work and the tremendous energy that had to be put forth -to complete it when we find a great host of 12,000 men and 5,000 horses -at work on this section as well as a tracklaying machine to relieve the -gangs, who found it almost impossible to do track labour in the ordinary -fashion, on account of mosquito-infested swamps encountered here and -there. Van Horne imported this machine from Chicago. It was new to the -French-Canadian track-layers, and its almost human action seemed to them -rather uncanny; but they soon adapted themselves to its operation and -found it a valued ally. There was an enormous amount of blasting to be -done, and to lessen the cost and the danger of importing the high -explosives necessary, three dynamite factories were erected to produce -the supply for distribution to near-by points. Despite every possible -care exercised in this regard, it was inevitable that in such an army of -men there would be a good deal of danger in the handling of explosives -in the ordinary course of their duty. They knew the danger, but they -went on steadily with their work. In consequence there was such -considerable loss of human life along that wild section of the railway -that those who now enjoy the pleasure and the profit of travel and -traffic by the picturesque inland fresh-water sea of Superior, ought to -recall that the splendid road-bed was laid, not only at vast cost in -substance, but with much sacrifice of that infinitely greater thing, -human life. And “if peace hath her victories no less renowned that war,” -there is no real reason why we should unfairly discriminate between men -who have, in the course of duty, given their lives in the one or the -other sphere. And there is no reason why we should not value equally the -possessions that have come to us by the sacrifice of men in the ways of -necessary industry or in the struggles of unavoidable war. - -As the work proceeded on the North Shore, some new methods were -introduced rather unexpectedly. We say unexpectedly, because there had -been very little work done before that time in Canada over similar -territory. The process of levelling rocks down was found to be -practically impossible, on account of the great expense and time -involved in the effort. So the plan of levelling up was tried with -excellent results. Wooden trestles were built in a great many places -between the rocks. Then the construction trains came over and dumped -broken stone until the space below was filled up with the best possible -material out of which to make a safe and durable road-bed. In order to -get the material for this process, great quarries were opened up all -along the line, whence crushed rock was taken to find the new and -excellent use just mentioned. - -Of course all this tremendous expenditure of labour and capital on the -North Shore gave the critics of the whole Canadian transcontinental -railway idea a new opportunity. Capt. Palliser’s report as to the -impracticability of a railway across the continent on British soil, -Mackenzie’s idea in regard to using the water stretches for -transportation as links in a trans-continental system, as well as the -early Stephen-Hill plan of linking up with Hill’s line at Sault Ste. -Marie, and thus having traffic between East and West in Canada go for -some few hundred miles through the States—all these arguments were -brought out to support the statement that Canada would be ruined by such -wild schemes as building a railway section across the barren waste of -rock on the North Shore. These persistent endeavours to block the work -of construction were having their pernicious effect in sowing the seeds -of discontent throughout the Dominion. And, what was much more serious, -these statements, sown broadcast in the Old Country, made London centres -of finance dubious in regard to the judgment of the railway directors -who would undertake such an exceedingly difficult piece of work. This -means that the raising of money in London was practically impossible. -British investors have always been venturous enough and will, when -Empire interests are in the balance, be ready, for patriotic motives, to -take some special hazards. But in this case they were being told by -mischief-makers, not only that the North Shore section was outrageously -expensive, but that, according to the honest opinion of as great an -authority as Sandford Fleming, it should not be constructed with the -hope of making running expenses until the West had a population of three -millions. It had then not many thousands. And the British investors were -being also informed by opponents and rivals of the Canadian Pacific that -no Imperial interests would suffer if the North Shore construction was -postponed indefinitely and traffic allowed to go through the States -according to Hill’s suggestion. Even the contractors and the men on the -North Shore began to lose heart, as men will who are being made to feel -that they are engaged in a work that is not only dangerous and -unnecessary, but likely to prove unprofitable should the Company become -insolvent through the terrific expenditure. And these men began to lose -even the incentive to endeavour when they were also told that they were -engaged in a task which resembled the mythological case of Sisyphus, who -was condemned to roll a great stone up a hill only to have it always -slip at the top and roll down again. No man likes that endless and -fruitless prospect in his work. Nor does he like working on a tower -which will have to be left uncompleted for lack of means. - -But amid all this discouragement Van Horne remained doggedly determined -to make an all-Canadian line and to build the railway on the North -Shore. He doubtless used some strong language in regard to the hostile -and the faint-hearted, but he pushed ahead with the stolidly unemotional -will-power of his Dutch ancestry. As his ancestors in Holland had -successfully dyked against the inroads of the ocean, Van Horne defied -the seas of pessimistic and hostile criticism to inundate his life and -put out the fire of his purpose. Then in the midst of this struggle an -opportunity came his way. And his keen brain seized upon it with the -swift precision of a steel-trap in action. One Louis Riel, who had -stirred up a rebellion against Canadian authority in 1869, and had been -hybernating in Montana for the intermediate years, began stirring up -another revolt in the Saskatchewan country in 1884. Those guardians of -the North-West, the Mounted Police, scattered over the vast area in -small detachments, had notified the Canadian authorities ten months or -so before the actual outbreak came in March, 1885. It seems now as if -much of the information they gave was tied up in a bundle with red tape -and pigeonholed by civil service officialdom in Regina. However, that is -not part of our present story, beyond our saying that it looked at one -time, to those of us who were on the ground, as if the whole Middle -West, with its thousands of war-like Indians, would in a short time be -swept by a prairie fire of rebellion which would leave ruin and -desolation in its wake. It was vitally necessary that in such an event -there should be, without delay, an overwhelming demonstration of force -made by the Canadian authorities. Riel was sending his runners through -the half-breed settlements and Indian camps, telling these primitive and -uninformed people that if they all rose they could drive the Canadians -off the plains and have these vast spaces for themselves and the wild -game again. - -Mr. Van Horne, who had been up and down the prairie part of his line -frequently, had been watching the rising cloud of discontent amongst the -half-breeds there. He did not worry over the political aspects of the -situation, but he saw that if the Indians were to be drawn into revolt -there would be a general devastation over the whole country. He at once -saw the possibility of demonstrating to the country the value of the -railway as a carrier of troops to the West, if necessity arose. He -pointed out to members of the Dominion Government that the Company would -in such a contingency have a strong claim on the Government for help in -the financial crisis to which, by reason of the tremendous expenditure -in construction, he saw the road to be swiftly and inevitably heading. A -member of the Government told Van Horne that the possibility of having -to send troops to the West would undoubtedly put a new face on any -application by the Railway to the Dominion for a loan to tide them over -their difficulties. - -It was only the brilliant and marvellously resourceful work of -Shaughnessy, in Montreal, in this period that was making the continuance -of the work possible, and that was preventing impatient creditors from -launching proceedings against the Company. Thinking “as if his brain -were packed in ice,” this consummately cool and alert purchasing agent -seemed to make a thousand dollars grow where there was only one before. -The thousand dollar amount was not actually there, but he handled the -situation as if it was visibly in existence. He promised and threatened -alternately. He made partial payments and told creditors that if they -pressed unduly the Company would do no more business with them. He gave -notes and arranged collateral with such extraordinary skill that, so far -as I can find, no claim for money due in the ordinary way was ever -brought into court, and no note ever signed by the Company ever went to -protest. But despite Shaughnessy’s masterly handling of the situation, -things were desperate enough, although Stephen, Smith and Angus were -pledging their private property and turning over their private -investments to keep things in operation. - -And now the mountain section had to be completed. More millions would -have to be found somewhere. No one seemed to know where to replenish the -empty treasury, and the mental strain on the members of the Board was -terrible. The fight against rocks and swamps and mountains waged by the -Company and contractors and men was fierce enough, but it was not to be -compared with the constant battle that had to be waged by the Directors -against heart-breaking and nerve-shattering financial conditions, for -years after the signing of the original agreement with the Government of -Canada for the building of the road. In the next chapter we shall study -this particular phase of the subject for a space. - - - - - CHAPTER X - Battling for Life - - -We can say at once, in explanation of the financial struggles before -mentioned, that the Canadian Pacific Railway was constructed to a finish -across Canada in a period of monetary storm and stress. Leaving out of -count the early years when the successive Governments were building -short stretches here and there, in a way so leisurely that no financial -difficulties occurred, beyond the ordinary impecuniosity which haunts -all Governments, the period from 1881 to 1885 was pre-eminently a -difficult time. During those years everybody was having what men on the -prairies call “hard sledding”—an expression taken from the experience -of travel with sleighs when the thaw has left bare patches on the -plains. On those patches the sleigh runners catch with a disheartening -tenacity and impede progress. At such junctures it is fortunate if there -are several men travelling together, because by “doubling up” their -teams, they can get over the otherwise impossible gap. Life is full of -opportunities for mutual helpfulness, and the great railway which now -spans the continent and bridges the oceans found itself more than once, -in the construction period above mentioned, at the end of its resources -and had to call on the Dominion Government for temporary assistance. It -was a case where “doubling up” became necessary if the hard places were -to be traversed. We are not sure that the Government was as willing and -ready to assist as the ordinary good-natured and open-hearted teamster -used to be on the prairie. But even a Government, which should be -cautious because it handles trust funds for the people, may be brought -to see when an unforeseen expenditure can be and must be made, in the -interests of the people themselves. In this particular case of the -Dominion Government and the Canadian Pacific Railway the Government -would not and did not at any time give even a temporary loan till it had -made the most exhaustive investigation into the whole problem. There are -some facts so outstanding that even a superficial investigation could -find, without much delay, why the Company required and deserved -temporary assistance by way of loan during the construction period in a -trying era. - -It should be remembered, to begin with, that the principal men in the -Company, Stephen, Smith and Angus, were men of practically independent -means before they entered on railroading with Hill in St. Paul. In their -association with Hill, owing to causes set forth in a preceding chapter, -they had become very wealthy in a short time and hence did not have to -take up any further work of the kind. Of worldly goods they had enough -and to spare and might have reasonably, from their own standpoint, have -continued the even tenor of their ways in their ordinary and familiar -occupations in Canada. But Sir John Macdonald, as soon as he knew that -their wealth had become great, and that they would be looking for new -avenues for investment, approached them with an appeal to undertake the -completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway. It was the biggest railway -construction project in the world, and the proposal to build the road, -except by slow stages, was characterized, not only by prominent public -men, but by some well-known experts, as sheer madness. Stephen, as we -have seen, was not disposed to go into such a huge undertaking at all. -There was no mercenary reason why this already successful trio should -make this hazardous attempt. However, the appeal of patriotic duty to -their country, as well as the fascination of immensity in task, finally -drew these Canadian men into the enterprise. And once they took up the -matter it is well-known and can now be told that they put not only -themselves, but all they had, into the determination to carry it through -to a successful issue. Hence they deserved the commendation of the -country and not the condemnation, for their gallantry. - -Twice the Company had to apply to the Government for either loan or -guarantee of bonds and during the months when these matters were hanging -in the balance, the founders of the Company and the General Manager and -Purchasing Agent, as well as other responsible officials, passed through -what can be truly called, agonizing experiences. To these experiences -they gave utterance at times. It is anticipating somewhat and -disregarding sequence for the moment, but during those years we have it -on the word of friends that Stephen returned one evening to the Russel -House after a vain effort to get Sir John A. Macdonald to say that he -would recommend that a loan should be made. Stephen, upon whom, as -President, there was unusual strain, threw himself into a chair in the -rotunda and when an acquaintance passing the time of day said, “How are -you?” Stephen, without looking up, replied “I feel like a ruined man.” -One day he shed tears in the office of Mr. Collingwood Schreiber, not -because he cared for himself, but because it looked as if the whole -great project of the Canadian Pacific was going to a crash that would -block the future of Canada for a time at least. On another night Mr. -Stephen, after a hopeless sort of interview with the Government, came -down the Russel House stair grip in hand and told Senator Frank Smith, a -gallant friend of the railway, that he was going to Montreal to make a -personal assignment of all he possessed. Even the redoubtable Van Horne -wired frantically one day that the pay car could not go out because -there was nothing in it! On another day he said to Mr. Schreiber at -Ottawa, “If the Government does not help us we are finished.” And -shortly afterwards, meeting Sir John Macdonald in the corridor, he said, -“Sir John, we are dangling over the pit of hell and ruin.” On another -occasion, when the Directors were in session, the Chairman said, -“Gentlemen, it looks as if we had to burst——” But Donald A. Smith -looked hard at him and said, “It may be that we must succumb, but that -must not be as long as we individually have a dollar.” And it is related -that he went out and raised on his personal security enough to meet -pressing accounts which Shaughnessy said had to be paid at once. - -My impression is that Donald A. Smith, with that craggy head and -beetling brow of his, was the most doggedly determined Director of them -all, though less able as a financier and diplomatist than Stephen, to -whom, generally speaking, those who know the history of the road quite -properly give endless credit for his masterly work as President of the -Company. After writing the preceding sentence, I came across the -following statement by Sir Charles Tupper, who himself did so much to -carry the great project through. He said in 1897: “The Canadian Pacific -Railway would have no existence to-day, notwithstanding all the -Government did to support the undertaking, had it not been for the -indomitable pluck and energy and determination, both financially and in -every other respect, of Sir Donald Smith.” - -I can quite understand some reader putting in a question here, as to how -it was that men of such ability, after having estimated the cost of -constructing the Canadian Pacific, found themselves at the end of their -resources within two years of their taking the contract. It is not -enough to say, although it was true, that there was an immense amount of -unexpected expenditure in battering the way through the Laurentian rocks -on the North Shore of Lake Superior, and in boring a road through the -mountains of British Columbia. There were other causes for the hard -circumstances that came upon the railway. The chief reasons for the -financial difficulties of the Railway Company, beyond what has been -already indicated, lay in the facts that, succeeding the boom inflation -in the West in 1881, there came a very serious depression all over the -country. On account of this, immigration fell far short of what was -expected. In consequence, both freight and passenger traffic was very -scanty. The Railway Company, for the same reasons, could not realize -anything worth while on its land, which was for the first ten years a -drag on the Company rather than an asset, as can be readily ascertained -by a study of the question. Thus the two main sources of expected -revenue failed to materialize. In addition, the threatening discontent -of the half-breed population which culminated in the Riel outbreak, -further discouraged the incoming of settlers. Resolutions, passed -unwisely at conventions in Manitoba, warning immigrants not to come -until there were other railways linking up with the States, being used -by immigration agents for other countries, created a bad impression as -to the Canadian West. And because investors abroad were also influenced -against the Canadian Pacific at the financial centres of London and New -York, by certain rival railway interests, the assets of the Canadian -road could not be turned into money. In this connection it is well to -recall again the bitter “Disallowance” agitation carried on against the -Canadian Pacific, chiefly in Manitoba, all through the construction -period. There was persistent effort made by that Province to charter -local railways, mainly linking up with the United States systems, -despite the clause in the Canadian Pacific contract with the Government -to the contrary. The charters granted by Manitoba were promptly -disallowed by the Dominion Government, mainly, first, because of the -contract with the Canadian Pacific, second, because money could not be -raised to build the main line of the Canadian Pacific if the productive -areas along that road should be tapped by rival roads, and, third, -because it was contended that the East had made tremendous sacrifices to -build the road and that on that account Western traffic ought to go over -the North Shore to build up the Eastern part of Canada, rather than go -southward to build up a foreign country. - -The Canadian Pacific, in self defence, would not yield to the granting -of rival charters, and the Dominion Government said they would keep -faith according to the terms of the contract. But Manitoba would not be -appeased and made many attempts, even to violence, to break the -“monopoly” clause. I recall passing on a Canadian Pacific train to -Southern Manitoba, and seeing large forces of men at a point where a -road from the south was striving to cross the Canadian railway. A -Canadian Pacific locomotive on a switch hastily constructed, barred the -way and some 200 men stood beside it to prevent the crossing. The -agitation checked immigration, and produced altogether a condition -exceedingly harmful to the West for a time. But the Canadian Pacific was -clearly within its rights and this was part of its battle for life -during that period. - -One cannot remember that fiery era without recalling how fortunate it -was for the Canadian Pacific Railway that its Western representative was -William Whyte, a princely type of man, whose courage, imperturbable -coolness and inflexible determination made him a tower of strength. -People might fight the railway, but no one of right mind could dislike -William Whyte, whose high character and immense personal popularity with -all classes, including especially all employees of the road, made him -unassailable. Leaving much of the administration of his office to men -like the genuine, and diplomatic, “Jim” Manson, Whyte (who was knighted -later for his services to the Empire) gave much time to the -“disallowance” problem, and to preventing open trouble as far as -possible. But there was general satisfaction when Manitoba, under the -continued work of men like John Norquay, Thomas Greenway and Joseph -Martin, in the local Government of Manitoba, persuaded the Dominion -authorities to cancel the “Monopoly” clause by giving the Canadian -Pacific compensation. The whole agitation, however sincere, had greatly -hampered the development of the country, and crippled very considerably -the efforts of the Canadian Pacific in a confessedly difficult period of -wide-spread depression. - -Some railways in the wealthy country to the south were, for various -reasons, going into the hands of the receivers during the construction -period of the Canadian Pacific. So that, despite the consummate ability -of the Canadian Pacific financiers, it is small wonder that the Company -saw bankruptcy looming up ahead. Even Stephen and Shaughnessy could not -make bricks without straw. And all the time Van Horne was driving ahead -with construction at top speed. He knew the situation, but declared that -any stoppage or even slackening up would lead to the Company being -pounced on by creditors, who would wind it up. His view was that the -whole undertaking must be kept alive as a hopeful, going enterprise, and -that its position would improve immensely when it, refusing to -acknowledge defeat, spanned the continent to the Western seas. Even -then, Van Horne, as after events proved, had his eye on trade with the -Orient as a great feeder to the road. So he went ahead, and let the -others find the money, though at times he took a hand, in his trenchant -way, in letting the Government know what he thought of the whole -situation. - -It was late in 1883 when the Canadian Pacific, which had been keeping -the facts before the Government at Ottawa, made formal application for a -loan of twenty-two and a-half millions to ward off failure. The -situation was desperate, but the Government, which had a lively -recollection of the fight put up against the original contract, was -afraid to risk defeat by granting the request. The security offered for -the loan was to all appearance ample, as it included a lien on the -Company’s main line, the branch lines in Manitoba, and the unpledged -land grant. In addition they gave the astonishing pledge that they would -clip five years off the contract term and finish the road in 1886. Sir -John Macdonald, who always kept his hand on the public pulse, knew that -people in the East were being persuaded by the Parliamentary Opposition -that the West was being developed at the expense of the East. Men in his -own cabinet and many of his supporters in the House, were being infected -with that idea, despite all efforts to make them see that, in the long -run, the development of the West would be an immense gain to the East. -Sir John, with the prospect of a divided cabinet, possible defection -amongst his own followers in the House, as well as the bitter attitude -of the Opposition and the likelihood of a revolt in the country against -the granting of the loan, was indisposed to yield. Things looked black -for the Canadian Pacific. Stephen was utterly discouraged after -interviews with Sir John, and it was on one of those occasions that he -was giving up and leaving Ottawa for Montreal when Senator Frank Smith -prevailed on him to wait over till they would have a midnight interview -with Sir John. Even that interview seemed fruitless till Mr. John Henry -Pope went to Sir John and told him that if the loan was not granted, the -Canadian Pacific would go to the wall, the Conservative party would go -with it, and all Canada would be in a panic. Sir John did not want to -smash Canada nor the Conservative party, and he explained that he was -personally in favour of the loan and would try to get his Cabinet and -party united in an effort to put it through the House. This was enough -for Mr. Pope, who knew Sir John’s powers, and at two o’clock in the -morning Pope returned to the well-nigh despairing Stephen and the rest, -and uttered simply the tonic words, “Well, he will do it.” - -In the meantime Sir Charles Tupper, who, while still holding the -portfolio of Minister of Railways, was in London as High Commissioner -for Canada, had been cabled for to come to the rescue. He left for -Ottawa at once and, on arrival in Canada, found everybody at their wits’ -end. He got Mr. Miall, the expert Government accountant, and Mr. -Collingwood Schreiber, the highly respected and able Government -engineer, to work on the Railway Company’s books in Montreal. They -reported everything satisfactory, and Mr. Schreiber, whose word went a -long way, recommended the granting of the loan. - -But there was still the task of getting the Cabinet united on the -subject, and the caucus of the Government members in the House into a -favourable and unanimous attitude. Fortunately for the Government and -the Canadian Pacific and the country at large, the Cabinet had in its -number the rare personalities of the magnetic and diplomatic Sir John -Macdonald and the formidable, fearless Sir Charles Tupper, who made a -sort of irresistible combination. Sir John could sway by the -conciliatory eloquence and the appealing personal touches which held the -devoted allegiance of his party to the “old Chieftain” through many -extraordinary vicissitudes in his long career. Sir Charles could marshal -arguments with the consummate forensic power of which he was a master, -and thus became a veritable regiment of storm troops to carry his points -and reach his objective. These two men solidified their own party and, -despite a fierce resistance from their opponents in the House, the Bill -authorizing the loan was carried, as Sir Charles said, “at the point of -the bayonet.” - -This relief gave the Company a new lease of life and the work, which had -never slackened, even though men had to wait for their pay, was forced -ahead by the aggressive Van Horne, while Shaughnessy handled every -dollar with such consummate skill that it seemed to do the work of two. -But the terrific expenditure in construction on the North Shore and -through the mountains, caused the twenty odd millions to melt like snow -before the sun. Smashing the rocks and levelling up the chasms on the -North Shore and finding a sure foundation in shaking and almost -bottomless morasses which sucked down material like an insatiable -undertow, all meant enormous unforeseen expenditure. The Company would -not allow any careless work and, if necessary, the contractors would -stay at one spot for months till the road-bed was absolutely secure. Van -Horne was rushing to complete the railway, but he was too thorough a -railroader to sacrifice security to speed in construction. Expense was -of no consequence. He was going to “get the work done right and send in -the bills to Stephen and Shaughnessy.” - -Just at the juncture when the railway seemed in imminent danger of -coming to a sudden halt because its coffers were again bare, and the -Government was afraid that the country would not stand for any more -assistance to be given to what some thought was a wild commercial -venture, an event occurred which threw the Canadian Pacific into the -limelight as an undertaking of immense Imperial value. That event was -the Riel Rebellion, which Van Horne had foreseen as a possibility and -concerning which he had warned the powers at Ottawa when he told them -that if it did occur, he would carry troops from the East to the -prairies in the space of a few days. Sir John Macdonald and the -Government, with a strange pertinacity, born of the mysterious red -tapeism of Regina officialdom, refused to think such an event possible. -However, it came with sudden and deadly emphasis when at Duck Lake, in -March, 1885, on the North Saskatchewan, a small force of civilians and -police suffered heavily in a sort of rebel ambuscade. Fifteen years -before, this same Riel had, at Fort Garry, run amuck, and then it had -taken six months for the soldiers under Col. Wolseley, coming by land -and water, to reach the scene. Now, in 1885, with the Lakes frozen and -no chance of going through the United States with armed men, the whole -middle West might be swept by the carnage of semi-savage rebels on the -war path. The time had come for Van Horne to play a winning card, and he -played it. The Government made frantic appeal to him because months -before he had intimated his willingness to help in such an event. But -before their appeal was actually known to the general public, Van Horne -had trains ready with steam up at the centres in the East where troops -would make their points of departure. He knew that there were gaps on -the North Shore and that there would be hardships, but to reduce these -to a minimum he stipulated that he and Shaughnessy and the Railway -Company officials should have complete control of both transportation -and commissariat. He always believed, for he had proven it by many a -test, that when men were well fed with nourishing food and stimulated -for special effort with strong black coffee, they could do and endure -greatly. And so he would not leave the soldiers to the tender mercies of -inexperienced quarter masters with meagre supplies on the bleak North -Shore of Lake Superior. - -In one or two places the soldiers had to march along the shore-ice on -the lake. In other places they were taken by teams and sleighs, or else -on flat cars over some hastily laid track. They had what might well be -called a hard time over part of the way, but soldiers do not expect -luxury on active service, and they got through in fewer days to Winnipeg -than it had taken of months to accomplish in Wolseley’s expedition, -years before. From Winnipeg the troops, with their Western comrades, -were distributed by rail and trail over the plains as far as the -mountains, and the rebellion was soon quelled. From that day the most -fiery opponents of the North Shore section of the Railway, the chief -point of critical attack, found their calling gone and had to subside. -Some of them would still oppose the whole system through force of habit, -but the extraordinary and unexpected service rendered by the Railway in -a crisis time would make it comparatively easy for even a cautious -Government to give temporary help to the Company, with the consent and -approval of the grateful Canadian people. Not only so, but the Canadian -Pacific Railway had thus suddenly become of such significance and value -as an all-British route across the North American continent, that men in -the Old Land who believed in the continuance of the Empire, realized as -never before that a new factor in Imperialism had come into history. -This railway was seen to be, not only a commercial transportation -company which traversed a portion of an overseas Dominion, but a great -link in the chain of an Empire that girdled the earth. It would no -longer be ignored in the financial circles of London, where the centre -of Empire stood. - -Meanwhile, right on through the rebellion, the work was being pushed -ahead in the mountains, although it was not generally known then that -the Company at first had boldly thrust its spear-head against the -embattled hills without very definite knowledge of how it was to get -through beyond the Rockies. The Kicking-Horse Pass showed the way, along -its flashing, frothing river, through the Rockies, but for some time -there was doubt about how the Selkirk Range was to be pierced. So -anxious was the Company about this problem that Mr. Sandford Fleming, -the famous engineer, was summoned by cable from the Old Country to look -into the situation. He journeyed by train to Calgary and went by trail -through the Kicking Horse, but just then Major Rogers, a hard-bitten, -adventurous man, acting on some information given by Walter Moberly -years before, discovered the famous pass called Rogers’ Pass to this -day. Rogers was an American engineer who, with his son Albert (after -whom Albert Canyon was called by Principal Grant of Queen’s University, -Secretary to Sandford Fleming on his journeys), had explored amid much -hardships to find a pass through the Selkirks. When he did find it, the -Company was so pleased that a bonus cheque for $5,000 was sent to -Rogers. A few months afterwards Van Horne met Rogers and reminded him -that he had never cashed the cheque. Rogers, who was well educated, but -rough at times in temper and language, evidently had abundant sentiment -withal. For he replied, “Do you think I would cash that cheque? I was -not out there for money, but to have a hand in a big project. No, sir, I -have that cheque framed in my brother’s house in Waterville, Minnesota, -where my nephews and nieces can see it as a token of some work their old -uncle did in his time.” - -Contractors who became famous later on in various ways were at work on -the mountain section. The work on the prairies had been child’s play -compared to it. A good old Scotch elder who came in to see me at the -Coast twenty years ago was amazed at the enormous task that had been -accomplished. In political life in Manitoba he had attacked what people -called “the ruinous expenditure” on the road. But he said to me then, in -1903, in Vancouver: “Now that I have seen it I wonder that men ever -undertook the work at any price, and so far as I am concerned I am -through with criticism of the expenditure on construction.” And then the -good man added, “The fact is that if the good Lord had not bored through -the mountains with rivers, there is not enough money in the Empire to -build to the Coast.” There was much in what this honest man said that -day. - -The expenditure was almost incredible. Where the rivers ran, there was, -for miles on end, the necessity for cutting into the solid rock to get -room for the road-bed and trains. There were miles of snowsheds to be -built, and tunnels through solid rock almost without number. Up the -mountain sides there were built various devices to protect the road and -make it safe from slides and avalanches. Rivers were deflected from -their channels and retaining walls were built. When I first passed over -the road, not many years after it was opened, there seemed to be leagues -of trestles, now filled in or replaced by steel or tunnels. Everywhere -there was need for the ceaseless flow of millions of money. But Van -Horne, who knew all about the business, saw that nothing was left undone -to make the road beyond criticism. And so well was the work done that -once, shortly after the road was completed, Van Horne, who was taking -some arbitrators over the mountains to value the government construction -section, had the engineer run over fifty miles an hour to show these -gentlemen “that the Company section was a real railroad even if the -government sections were not.” - -It was no wonder that with the vast expenditure indicated by the above -paragraphs the Directors saw that they must raise some more millions or -perish. - -Accordingly, in 1885, when the Riel Rebellion, by reason of the service -rendered by the Canadian Pacific Railway in transportation of troops, -had been quelled, Stephen approached the Dominion Government again for -assistance. The rebellion services of the railway had solidified the -Government support in the House, which was then in session, and had -pretty well silenced the Opposition. The assets of the Railway were -already subject to a lien for the former loan, but the Government, -besides a few minor concessions, finally allowed the Directors to issue -$35,000,000 stock, of which it was to guarantee $20,000,000, the rest to -be issued by the Railway Directors. Stephen went to London, not very -hopefully, to sell this bond issue. The Directors in Canada waited -anxiously to hear the result, for the bankruptcy of the road and of the -Directors (though they cared less for that) was only hours away if -Stephen’s mission failed. Sir Charles Tupper, then High Commissioner for -Canada in London, that steadfast friend of the road, had done some most -effective preparatory work with the famous banking house of the Barings, -of which Lord Revelstoke was the head. Stephen had scarcely begun his -explanation of the situation when Lord Revelstoke broke in and said, “We -have been looking into the whole matter already. We are satisfied with -the outlook in Canada and the future of the Canadian Pacific Railway, -and will take over the whole issue of your stock at ninety-one.” Stephen -was overjoyed, because the question of the solvency of the great railway -was settled for all time. He sent an exultant cable at once to Canada. -Mr. Angus and Mr. Van Horne were in the Board Room in Montreal when it -was delivered. They read it with a sort of glad surprise too deep for -words. They were matter-of-fact men, but they shook hands with some -emotion. Then they threw some of the chairs about and danced around the -room. The relief to the tension had come and they had to relax somehow. -They were human. - -They knew in that hour that the road would be completed. And out along -the line in the great mountains there would be a station called -Revelstoke. And where the steel met from the East and the West, there -would be another station named “Craigellachie,” after the Gælic -cablegram meaning “stand fast,” which Stephen, as we have already -recorded, had sent to his cousin, Donald A. Smith (Strathcona), in the -dark days some years before. The name would remind succeeding -generations of the men whose steadfastness was like unto that of -Craigellachie, the unshaken rock in the old glen of Strathspey. - - - - - CHAPTER XI - Ocean to Ocean - - -As we have followed the story of railway construction across the -continent, over the North Shore, athwart the vast plains and on into the -mountains, our eyes have been on the Western sea. It was to win and hold -the illimitable spaces of the North-West that the Canadian Pacific was -first conceived, and it was specially to link up British Columbia with -her sister Provinces to the east that the iron horses were being driven -on steel trails to drink on the sunset shore of Canada. - -But we must always keep in mind the fact that this railway was to be -transcontinental in its extent, and that it was down by the Atlantic, -first of all, that men who saw visions and dreamed dreams forecasted its -great destiny by land and sea. They saw it spanning the continent, -continuing across the Pacific, and finally, under one system, girdling -the globe. Others, earlier, made conjectures and expressed vague hopes, -but the most clear and confident note of prophecy was sounded by Joseph -Howe at Halifax, in 1851, in the famous speech quoted in our first -chapter. Later, in the old Province of Quebec, where in a sense -Confederation was first definitely outlined at the Conference of the -Fathers of Confederation in 1864, this prophetic note was taken up and -rendered more emphatic. Thus were the Atlantic statesmen planning ahead. - -Moreover, it is interesting to recall that it was Mr. Sanford Fleming, -the engineer of the Intercolonial, peculiarly an Atlantic Railway, who -was called on to explore a railroad way to the Pacific. It was his -secretary on that expedition, the brilliant and versatile Rev. (later -Principal) George Munro Grant, then of Halifax, who made the expression -“Ocean to Ocean” current coin in Canada, by publishing a book under that -title. And still another Halifax writer, Robert Murray, immortalized the -expression, by composing a remarkable hymn with the same designation. -Thus were the oceans early linked prophetically by patriotic seers and -mystics. - -Just now I am looking at the realization of these dreams as portrayed in -a unique picture which ought to be found on the wall of every school in -Canada. This picture is commonly called “Driving the last spike,” and to -the superficial observer, unacquainted with the history of the Canadian -Pacific, it means simply the act of joining together the steel rails -which met at a given point in the mountains, as the track-layers, -working from East and West, finished their protracted task. But, in -reality, it means much more than a single isolated act along the -progress of the years. It is a composite deed into which is merged and -concentrated a long series of astonishing achievements wrought by men of -brain and brawn. It represents many mental, moral and physical forces -converging into a climax which could only have been attained by the -persistent, determined efforts of those who believed that obstacles are -thrown in life’s pathway in order that men may wax strong through the -overcoming of them. - -In this picture, “Driving the Last Spike,” there is nothing to suggest -“the shouting of captains and garments rolled in blood.” But for those -who will study and enquire, it holds the story of victory snatched from -the jaws of defeat, by a gallant constructive army whose mission was not -to destroy but to build, for the welfare of a nation and lands beyond -its borders. That is why I say it should be on the walls of our -schoolrooms, in order that teachers might relate to young Canadians the -story of an amazing accomplishment on the fields of peace. - -Just how amazing and how dangerous was the task of building through -certain parts of the mountains, not far from the scene portrayed in the -picture, may be gathered from the experiences of the engineering staff. -As I am writing I recall that Mr. Noel Robinson, a Vancouver newspaper -man who deserves much credit for his work in connection with the work of -old-timers, elicited once from Mr. Henry J. Cambie, who put the road -through the Fraser River canyons, a few words on the subject. Mr. -Robinson says: “In response to some pressure as to the difficulty of -laying out the work—apart altogether from the difficulties of -construction—Mr. Cambie admitted that these were great. Mr. Cambie -spoke particularly of the Cherry Bluffs section, and said that quite a -stretch of it was laid out by a few men, as there was only room for a -few to work. Two agile men, with experience on sailing vessels, sprung -ropes from rock to rock or from tree to tree. Then a few engineers, -steadying themselves with these ropes, went along in their bare feet to -lay out the work, with a precipice and then Kamloops Lake, of unknown -depth, down below them. Mr. Cambie admitted that he was one of these -engineers. One of the engineers, Mr. Melchior Eberts, in 1881, while -climbing over a bluff covered with snow and ice, slipped and fell head -first down a steep slope, to his death.” Speaking of the difficulties, -Mr. Cambie went on to say: “We had to increase the curvature beyond -anything we had ever seen up to that time on a main line of railway, and -in order to get round the face of some of the bluffs we had to construct -what we called grasshopper trestles, that is, trestles with long posts -on the outside, standing on steps cut in the rock, and on the other side -a very short post, if any, because very often we had half a road-bed. -These things have since been done away with and their places taken by -retaining walls.” In my own conversation with Mr. Cambie he has spoken -to me feelingly about the loss of life through the canyons of the Fraser -during construction days. Practically all the work was through rock -which had to be dynamited in places where it was very difficult to get -shelter when shots were fired. Men were drowned also here and there -along the river. Thus again we are reminded that this battle in time of -peace was only won, like other battles, by great sacrifice. These are -things we must never forget when we enjoy the results of the struggles -of others in our own or earlier days. - -The spot at which the last spike was driven was named Craigellachie, as -already intimated. The story of the name has not always been correctly -told in this connection, beyond saying that the word was sent as a -cablegram from Stephen to his fellow-directors in a crisis hour to -encourage them not to give way, though the position seemed hopeless at -the time. The expression is in reality not one word, but two, Craig -Ellachie. This was the name of a grey rock in a Scottish glen, the home -of a famous clan. And the legend is that when the clansmen went forth to -war, the windswept pines and heather on the lonely hilltop whispered to -the forth-going men the war-cry “Stand Fast, Craig Ellachie.” And now, -in a new land, at a place where rails met through the steadfast -persistence of these Scottish men and others, the mountains heard the -echoing blow of the hammer which is in the forefront of the picture, -“Driving the Last Spike.” Contrary to a general impression, created by -the importance of the occasion and by some writers, the last spike was -not of gold, but iron, like the other millions of them that had been -driven all along the line. The event itself was so intensely dramatic -that it needed not any conventional setting to give it _éclat_. Mr. Van -Horne, who was not disposed to waste in any case, perhaps felt that iron -was more significant of the spirit in which determined men had -accomplished the apparently impossible. And so he had said in a matter -of fact way, which was in itself abundantly thrilling: “The last spike -will be as good an iron spike as there is between the two oceans, and -any one who wants to see it driven will have to pay full fare.” The -Directors who had passed through the fierce fire of the economic -struggle to build the road could not afford, without a sort of -sacrilege, to have anything conventional to bring people from the ends -of the earth for the occasion. There was grim, but splendid, simplicity -about the ceremony that was profoundly appropriate under all the -circumstances. - -It was on November 7th, 1885, that the rails met in the Eagle Pass -section of the road, and a group of men alighted from the train to be -present when the last spike would be driven. By general concensus of -opinion, the hammer to drive it was placed in the hands of Donald A. -Smith. It was a great honour, but worthily bestowed on the white-haired -veteran and victor in a hundred fights against obstacles. It was a far -cry from the little village of Forres, in Morayshire, to the way station -of Craigellachie in the mountains of Canada. But Donald A. Smith, the -lad who had left Forres with all his worldly possessions in a carpet -bag, and endured cold and snow-blindness in the Labrador till he rose to -the higher places in the Hudson’s Bay Company, had now come to stand on -Canada’s pioneer transcontinental steel trail and drive the spike that -would link up, into a true Confederation, the scattered Provinces of the -Dominion. - -Mr. Smith had not done much manual labour in recent years. But he was no -stranger to physical toil. While in Labrador he had run with his dog -trains in winter, and in summer cultivated an astonishing garden and -farm, which was a surprise to all who visited the bleak locality. So, -despite the years that had elapsed since that time, Smith swung the -sledge hammer with a will that day, and the iron spike was driven home -to forge a new link of Empire. I have been listening in imagination to -the echoes of the hammer-blow through the passes and along the mountain -sides, and thence around the seven seas of the Empire. For this was a -right royal event, which evoked swift messages from good Queen Victoria, -the Marquis of Lorne, and many others who recognized the enormous -Imperial significance of what had taken place in the heart of the great -mountains under the Red Cross flag. And the day would come when a great -war was to break suddenly over the face of the world. In that day of the -Empire’s danger she would realize, even more vividly, the value of this -Canadian transcontinental road which, by the time of that war, had -transformed the Middle West of Canada from a wilderness into a vast -storehouse of food supplies. In that day of war the Canadian Pacific -would transport by land and sea hundreds of thousands of soldiers and -labourers to the sphere of conflict, and, from its own employees, would -furnish for the safety of the Empire not only a large quota of fighting -men, but some of the most expert railway builders and transportation -officers in the world. All this was wrapped up potentially in the -thrilling incident of driving the last spike at Craigellachie. - -So once more I look at the picture. The camera could not take in a large -group, but it is representative in some fair degree of the men who made -the event of that day possible. Tracklayers and sectionmen, engineers -and contractors, superintendents and Directors, and others, were -present, for they all had a share in the victory. Some of them I can -pick out in the crowd; others are to me unknown. Some one, whose face is -hidden by a bystander, is holding Donald A. Smith’s overcoat, for the -veteran had taken it off in order to swing the hammer in workmanlike -fashion. The tall figure of Mr. Sandford Fleming, his beard and hair -white with the snows that never melt, is conspicuous near the -foreground. He will be remembered as the engineer-in-chief who blazed -the way through the mountains in the early days, and who, though not -then on the staff as engineer, was called from the Old Country in 1883 -to help in finding a way through the Selkirks. After retiring from the -engineering staff he became a Director of the Company and so remained to -the end of a distinguished and highly useful life. Other engineers whom -I see in the group are Marcus Smith, a quite remarkable man who had -general charge of the Coast section; Major Rogers, the famed finder of -Roger’s Pass through the Selkirks; and Henry J. Cambie, who put the -railway through the Fraser River canyons, one of the most picturesque, -but one of the most difficult, portions along the line. Van Horne did -not always love the engineers, whose care in location did not entirely -chime in with his ideas of speed in building. But after letting them -know his mind in emphatic language, he recognized the sphere of their -responsibility, and, after discussing other possible ways, let them have -their way if they made out a case. The three above named were near -enough to be present at Craigellachie on that eventful day, but they -represented a band of very gallant men in the same vocation—men who -often ventured their lives in the dangerous places they were -investigating. Representing the contractors, who were a legion, we find -in the group James Ross, who had much building to do in the mountain -section, and who had witnessed many difficulties in dealing with a large -army of men of many nationalities. Generally speaking it can be said -that the contractors gave themselves with enthusiasm to their work, and -the Canadian Pacific was the training school for a host of young -Canadians in the business of railway building. In after years many of -these men became famous in railway work. Their ambitions, begotten and -intensified by their experience on the pioneer transcontinental road, -led them into very large enterprises of their own in the same line. Some -of their undertakings were premature, in view of Canada’s population, -but some day they will enure to the benefit of the country. - -While speaking of the contractors, one would like again to say something -of the thousands of track and tunnel men, represented at Craigellachie -that day by the hundred or two on that section at the time. Their lot -had not been easy as they toiled on through summer’s heat and winter’s -cold. Every effort was made to the end that they should be well fed and -sheltered, where possible, but certain hardships which were inevitable -were for the most part cheerfully borne. In the dark days they had to -wait for their pay, that being true of all the employees at times. But -these men had faith in the big enterprise and took their share of the -hard times, saying, as did one business man on the North Shore, who had -several thousands coming to him for supplies, “Van Horne will put this -thing through and I will wait.” This was showing a good spirit; albeit -we ought to remember that the men who were undergoing the most terrific -strain were the Directors, who had not only pledged all their private -means, but were facing at times the peculiarly unbearable possibility of -the whole vast undertaking crumbling into failure before their eyes. - -Two of the Directors, Mr. Sandford Fleming and Mr. Harris, appear in the -group when the last spike was driven, and behind them stands Mr. John H. -McTavish, one of the famous family connected with the Hudson’s Bay -Company through many years. Just within that circle in the picture -stands a little boy with his neck craned to see the veteran nailing the -steel to a tie. He was the water boy who carried drink for the men as -they toiled on the road. I sometimes wonder what became of that boy who -had the rare privilege of looking on when this extraordinary event in -Canadian history took place. He was witnessing what might be called the -birth of a nation. - -With hands in the pockets of his overcoat, in a characteristic attitude, -and apparently gazing intently at the hammer and spike, stands the -strong, powerful figure of Mr. Van Horne, the general who had reached -his objective after a desperate battle. His favourite type of -square-crowned hat is pulled well down, and his whole posture suggests -determined strength. His face, withal, has a dreamy cast, and one would -give more than the proverbial penny for his thoughts. His mind, no -doubt, was dwelling on the struggle through which he had fought for four -tremendous years. But he was doubtless also looking into the future. No -one knew so well as he did, that though, in one sense, the road was -completed, there was another sense in which it had only begun. Many -improvements and extensions were still to be made, branch lines and -double tracks were to be laid, traffic had to be developed, the land had -to be peopled and the obligations of the road, incurred for bringing it -to the last spike, had to be met. But it is a striking thing to recall -that the total indebtedness of the Company to the Government was met -within a year of the opening of the road, and that the Company has never -had to ask the Government for a dollar since that time. The road was to -prosper immensely, and the man who, in some trepidation, had written -this same Van Horne in the darkest days, as to the Company’s securities, -and got the laconic telegram, “Sell your boots and buy C. P. R. stock,” -did well if he accepted the advice. - -Men who were present at Craigellachie when that last spike was hammered -home, tell us that for a while after the sound of the blows ceased there -was absolute silence. The few hundreds who had the privilege of being -there seemed, in a sense, stunned by the enormous significance of the -event. Then some one gave a shout—perhaps it was that little “water -boy,” because it is like what a boy would do—and then the mountains -echoed with a perfect frenzy of cheering, that continued for minutes, -breaking out again and again. Mr. Van Horne was called on by the crowd -for a speech. Without changing his attitude and with his eyes still upon -the junction of the rails, the great railroader said simply and quietly, -“All I can say is that the work has been well done in every way.” It was -a short speech, but it was a profound tribute to everybody who had taken -part in this colossal enterprise. Directors, officials, contractors, -navvies, teamsters, stonecutters, bridge builders, train men, telegraph -operators and all the rest were embraced in this terse, but heartfelt, -and richly-deserved eulogium. And the conductor had a splendid -conception of a climacteric moment when he shouted “All aboard for the -Pacific,” and the train took its swift way down to the Western sea. Two -centuries had gone by since daring British explorers had essayed in vain -to go across the North American continent by some hitherto undiscovered -waterway to the Pacific. They were amongst the famous forerunners of the -gallant and able men who had now, after amazing endeavour, laid the -steel across prairie and mountain where not many years before hunters -and trappers, by packhorse, snowshoe, travois or wooden cart, had broken -adventurous trails. Thus there had now been opened up a new Empire, -whose enormous extent and productive capacity would make it one of the -wonders of the world and the Mecca for millions of the human race. - -Regular passenger service was not inaugurated till the following spring, -the first through train reaching Port Moody in June, 1886, and Vancouver -in May, 1887. Port Moody was the statutory terminus, but the extension -to Vancouver was inevitable, although Port Moody real estate owners -naturally threw every obstacle in the way of the railway going farther. -Vancouver had been swept by the great fire in 1886, but the courageous -inhabitants started to rebuild and there were probably two or three -thousand people, under the leadership of the first mayor, Mr. Malcolm A. -MacLean, to greet the first train with rousing cheers and an address. It -was a great day for Vancouver. A generation has since grown up which -does not fully understand, because it does not know. But the people who -know the story of the fire-swept area of rocks and blackened stumps into -which the first Canadian Pacific train rolled that day, thirty-seven -years ago, bringing in with it the dawn of a new day, do not forget. It -linked the cold ashes of the new townsite to the throbbing power of -Eastern Canada, and put a new name on the map where Orient and Occident -looked each other in the face across the Pacific. It is rather a -striking coincidence that I am writing these words on the 23rd of May, -the anniversary of the arrival of the first Canadian Pacific Railway -train in Vancouver in 1887. And on this day, in this Year of Grace 1924, -the _Empress of Canada_, one of the Company’s great steamships, has just -come back to this West Coast after a five months’ voyage around the -globe. The space of time between is brief, considered as a span in -history, but in that time the Canadian Pacific has not only covered the -Dominion in all directions with its steel trails, but has compassed all -the oceans with her floating palaces. - -That day in May, 1887, the prominent officials of the road on the -Pacific Division were the heroes of the hour—a group of able and -reliable men—Messrs. Harry Abbott, Richard Marpole, W. F. Salisbury, -Henry J. Cambie, D. E. Brown, George McL. Brown, H. Connon, Lacy R. -Johnson, A. J. Dana, with a faithful band, the forerunners of the -present host, in their employ. - -As I am writing this paragraph on the eve of May 24th, the anniversary -of the birth of good Queen Victoria, of immortal memory, it is fitting -to note the following fine letter from the Marquis of Lorne to the -Canadian Pacific authorities: “The Queen has been most deeply interested -in the account which I have given her of the building of your great -railway, the difficulties which it involved and which have been so -wonderfully surmounted. Not one Englishman in a thousand realizes what -those difficulties were; but now that the great Dominion has been -penetrated by this indestructible artery of steel, the thoughts and -purposes of her people, as well as her commerce, will flow in an -increasing current to and fro, sending a healthful glow to all the -members. The Princess and I are looking forward to a journey one day to -the far and fair Pacific.” It was in keeping with the idea running -through this letter that the Queen conferred a baronetcy on President -George Stephen and a knighthood on Mr. Donald A. Smith. And out in the -great mountains which these two Scottish men so wonderfully helped to -pierce with the steel trail, there are monuments to them in the -cathedral peaks, Mount Stephen and Mount Sir Donald, “More enduring than -brass.” - -Since that day in 1887 there have been, as the Marquis of Lorne’s letter -prophesies, a constant succession of most distinguished travellers. The -princes of our own Royal line, including our present gracious King and -the present Prince of Wales; noblemen, statesmen, scientists, novelists, -poets, soldiers, sailors, missionaries and others of world-wide fame, -have passed and repassed over this iron highway, entranced and amazed at -the richness, the fertility, the resources and the incomparable scenery -of the country. Volumes could not record their praise for the country, -for the travelling accommodation and for that courtesy and -considerateness by employees for which the Canadian Pacific is known the -world over. It has always been the aim of the road to see that children, -ladies, old and feeble people, can travel alone with the utmost safety -and comfort, and the testimony of travellers is that this tradition is -steadily maintained under all circumstances. There are doubtless many -travelling people who are selfish, unreasonable and hard to please, but -generally speaking (and I have seen this exemplified scores of times) -the official or employee of the Company proceeds on the assumption that -“the passenger is always right,” and in the end everybody is satisfied. - -In this connection Lady Macdonald, who went with her distinguished -husband, Sir John, on the second regular train to the Coast, wrote in -her account of it: “It was quite touching and something new in railway -life to find the brakeman grieving over the smoke and apologizing for -it.” If there was a forest or prairie fire abroad the train-hands were -not to blame. If the reference was to the old coal-burners in the -mountains, the Company now uses fuel oil. - -To give another example: One day Mr. Van Horne overheard a trainman in -rather sharp altercation with an irritable and unreasonable passenger, -and speaking to this trainman afterwards, Van Horne said: “You are not -to consider your own personal feelings when you are dealing with these -people. You should not have any. You are the road’s while you are on -duty; your reply is the road’s; and the road’s first law is courtesy.” -The reader will see that while, in one sense, this seems to suppress the -individuality of the employee, there is another sense in which it -honours his position by making him, in that connection, the accredited -representative of the Company. Mr. Van Horne inculcated this in many -different ways, till employees took a pride in the road. They felt they -were part of it. Even Van Horne’s faithful coloured car-porter, the -well-known Jimmie French, used to tell passengers “how we built the C. -P. R.” It will be recalled that when that porter died, Mr. Van Horne, -who grieved greatly over the passing of a friend, walked in the funeral -procession as chief mourner. That is the spirit of the road. - -It would be impossible to mention a fraction of the famous travellers -who have made the Canadian Pacific their way of travel, but there are -two of the public men of that period who had been protagonist and -antagonist on the subject for years, whose journey to the Coast had more -than usual interest on that account. The one was Sir John A. Macdonald; -the other was the Hon. Edward Blake. - -Sir John and Lady Macdonald crossed to the Pacific on the second train -that made the through trip. Sir John, being the head of the Government, -was nominally at least the sponsor for the Canadian Pacific, although we -must not forget that his Minister of Railways, Sir Charles Tupper, did -the larger part of the fighting to get it through. Sir John, however, -was always the man who had the last word as to assisting the road, and -though he tried the patience of Stephen and Van Horne at times, he was -the real originator of the plan and in the end gave it his powerful -assistance in the days of stress. Sir John, during that trip over the -road in 1886, made one of his characteristically witty and magnetic -speeches at a great mass meeting in the McIntyre Rink in Winnipeg. Those -were my student days, and the chance to hear the popular Premier, who -was on a sort of triumphal trip over the completed road, was not to be -missed. My recollection is that the speech was non-partisan, except for -a few humorous references, and not very heavy. Sir John was alert and -bright even to jauntiness, but he spoke as a man who was through with a -puzzling problem and was light−heartedly taking a care-free holiday. His -allusion to the Canadian Pacific, a strange blending of pathos and -humour, swept the house into a hurricane of cheers. He said “There was a -time when I never expected to live to see the completion of this great -railway. But I knew it would be completed some day, and in that day I -said I would see my friends crossing the continent upon it as I looked -down upon them from another and better sphere. My friends on the -Opposition side of the House kindly suggested that I would more likely -be looking up from below. But I have disappointed all conjecturers, and -I am doing this trip on the horizontal.” - -It was during that pioneer railway trip that Lady Macdonald loyally rode -for part of one day in the mountains on the cow-catcher of the engine, -as a way of advertising to the world the safety of the new road. -Mentioning Lady Macdonald recalls the story told by that big-hearted -humorist, Col. George Ham, whom everybody knows and likes. It appears -that Superintendent Niblock, of the Medicine Hat division of the road, -had to be away from home when Sir John’s train was due to pass. But -desiring to show some courtesy he wired some one at the Hat to send Lady -Macdonald a bouquet of flowers. The message appears to have become -mangled and when delivered had “flowers” spelled “flour” and “bouquet” -contracted to “boq.” This looked unusual, and “boq. of flour” was -interpreted to mean “a bag of flour.” This was accordingly despatched to -Sir John’s private car, where the porter had no room to spare, and -refused to accept it. And so both the courtesy and the gift fell by the -wayside, although the intention was good. - -The other distinguished public man, as above noted, who travelled to -Vancouver over the Canadian Pacific a few years later, was the Hon. -Edward Blake. He had steadfastly, consistently and, no doubt, -conscientiously, opposed the construction of the road as involving what -he called “ruinous expenditure” for a young and sparsely settled -country. Mr. Blake’s memory remains as that of one of the ablest and -most high-minded statesman in the public life of Canada and, by general -consent, the most outstanding intellectual force this country has -produced. But, as observed in a preceding chapter, he had never been -West before the famous railway debates took place, and therefore -underestimated the country and its possibilities. When he did come, in -1891, he made a notable speech in Vancouver. In that speech he not only -accepted the situation in a frank and manly way, but, calling on his -large vocabulary and his somewhat unsuspected sense of humour, he gave a -remarkable description of the country by putting everything in words -opposite to the reality. Mr. Blake said: “As I approached this country I -was struck by the remarkable change from the rugged and upheaved -territory of the plains of the North-West to the smooth and level slope -of the Rockies; as I ascended the slope and came upon the somewhat level -and monotonous flats of British Columbia; as I travelled by the languid -Bow and descended again through the valley of the tranquil Kicking -Horse; as I crossed the calm Columbia and travelled down the dead waters -of the Beaver and along the placid Illecillewaet and by the drowsy -Skuzzy; as I passed by the slow Thompson and last of all by the banks -between which the Fraser meanders its sluggish way, I turned to the -fertile resources of your shores and viewed the horizon where it spanned -the meadows of the Selkirks, the fertile level plains of the Gold Range -and the broad plains of the Coast Range, and I reached here converted.” -For a while the audience, thinking that Mr. Blake was getting things -mixed because this first swift trip was confusing him as to locality, -preserved a well-bred, silent attitude, as if much puzzled. In a little -while, as he proceeded, they saw that he was purposely and skilfully -putting everything in the converse way, and the house simply rocked with -delighted laughter in peal after peal. When people are enjoying an -uproarious laugh, they cannot cherish resentment. And so when Mr. Blake, -dropping the jocular vein, went on to say, “When the railroad was built -and finished I felt myself that it was useless to continue the -controversy longer, in deference to this whole country which Canada has -risked so much to retain,” the people in British Columbia forgave him -for calling their Province “a sea of mountains,” and, like true -Westerners, declared that he was playing the game in a sportsmanlike way -and they would call off their feud. - -And thus was the great railway opened from ocean to ocean. Much remained -yet to be done in the way of constant improvement of the road and -increase of the rolling stock. But the system was in operation, and the -trains passed East and West over the once “Great Lone Land” and through -the mountain passes. Circumstances have changed somewhat since the -following fine verses were written some years ago by the late Pauline -Johnson, but in general they still represent the situation. Born in -Ontario in the region made famous by her great ancestor, Joseph Brant, -ally of the British people, this gifted poetess, with the Indian blood -of which she was so proud, saw in the Canadian Pacific trains not just -so many cars and engines, but new and living factors in the expanding -life of her beloved Dominion. And so she makes “The C. P. R. No. 1, -Westbound,” say: - - “I swing to the sunset land— - The world of prairie, the world of plain, - The world of promise and hope and pain - The world of gold and the world of gain, - And the world of the willing hand. - - “I carry the brave and bold— - The one who works for the nation’s bread, - The one whose past is a thing that’s dead, - The one who battles and beats ahead - And the one who goes for gold. - - “I swing to the ‘Land to Be.’ - I am the power that laid its floors; - I am the guide to its Western Shores - I am the key to its golden doors - That open alone to me.” - -And she calls on “The C. P. R. No. 2, Eastbound,” to say: - - “I swing to the land of morn— - The grey old East with its grey old seas; - The land of leisure, the land of ease, - The land of flowers and fruit and trees - And the place where we were born. - - “Freighted with wealth I come: - For he who many a moon has spent - Far out West on adventure bent, - With well-worn pick and folded tent - Is bringing his bullion home - - “I never will be renowned, - As my twin that swings to the Western marts, - For I am she of the humbler parts— - But I am the joy of waiting hearts; - For I am the Homeward bound.” - - _From “Flint and Feather,” by E. Pauline Johnson. Published by - arrangement with the Musson Book Company, Limited._ - - - - - CHAPTER XII - Guardians of the Road - - -Now that we have followed the main line of the Canadian Pacific to the -coast and have paid tribute to the actual builders it is fitting to -devote a brief chapter to a body of men who, while not taking part -directly in the work, did so much to make that work possible that they -were often officially thanked by the railway heads for their -extraordinary assistance. I refer now particularly to the part played on -the stage of Western development by that famous corps, the North-West -Mounted Police. I am giving here the original title. Since the time when -they were so designated, the prefix “Royal” was given by King Edward, as -a recognition of the great services of these knights of the saddle. -Still later, when, shortly after the outbreak of the Great War, they -were for obvious important reasons distributed all over the Dominion, -they were given the present name of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. -Names have changed, but throughout the fifty years from their -organization these riders in the scarlet and gold uniform have done -their duty as law-and-order men, inflexible, untiring and incorruptible, -in their guardianship of life and property on the widest frontier in the -world. The fact that they became an important factor in the conception -and building of the Canadian Pacific Railway was foreshadowed in the -famous report made by Capt. W. F. Butler (afterwards Sir William Butler, -of South Africa,) in the year 1871, when he travelled over the “great -lone land” and made recommendation how to preserve law and order in that -vast prairie country. The railway would not have come into a country -that would not some day be populated, and no country would be populated -unless immigrants and homesteaders were given assurance that their lives -and property would be protected in the new country. So it was that -Butler recommended the formation of a “mobile force,” because a force -located at fixed points or forts “would afford no adequate protection -outside the immediate circle of these points and _would hold out no -inducements to the establishment of new settlements_.” And Butler says -he made his recommendation because he saw “a vast country lying, as it -were, silently awaiting the approach of the immense wave of human life -which rolls unceasingly from Europe to the American continent.” Butler -added that, though the Western plains were far from the Atlantic -seaboard, “still that wave of human life is destined to reach those -beautiful solitudes and to convert their now useless vegetation into all -the requirements of civilized existence.” And it is historically true to -say that homesteaders began to come to the great lone land with more -confidence once the Mounted Police had taken control of the country in -the early 70’s. The notable painting, “Any Complaints?” by Paul Wickson, -is based on this idea. It represents the police patrol riding up to the -homesteader at his plough and asking if he has been troubled by horse -thieves, or cattle stealers or lawless Indians. It was because the -homesteader could pursue his way in peace that a railway to carry what -he imported and exported, had a future. And not only from possible human -enemies, but from the terrific danger of prairie fires and such like, -did the rider of the plains stand on guard. When one, for instance, sees -Constable Conradi, despite warnings that he was attempting the -impossible, spurring his horse through rolling clouds of smoke and -saving a family from death at the risk of his own life, one realizes how -these knights of the saddle gave people a sense of security. Or when one -sees thirty of these gallant riders sweeping the plain till they found a -lost child and restored her to her mother’s arms, he understands how the -presence of these men robbed the life on the prairies of the sense of -insecurity. The element of security drew settlers to the plains and thus -encouraged railway building. - -Coming to railway construction time we have the cases in which the -contractors and engineers were terrorized by the Indians in the early -stages of their work. One chief, Pie-a-Pot, who had always been a source -of trouble on account of his ugly disposition and his evident -determination not to acquiesce in the incoming of civilized life, took -it into his head one day to camp on the railroad right-of-way on the -prairie. The surveyors and engineers worked up to that point and found -Pie-a-Pot’s tent squarely in the way. Around him were many other tents -and all supported by a big band of braves who, mounted on their ponies, -circled around, discharging fire-arms into the air and indulging in -war-whoops and other hostile demonstrations. The surveyors and engineers -asked the hostile chief to move, but he only laughed at them and urged -his braves to more violent exhibitions of their prowess. The men of -peaceful occupations discreetly withdrew to a safe distance and halted -their work, but at the same time managed to send back word to the -Mounted Police headquarters as to the situation. Headquarters sent a -message to the detachment of police nearest the scene of disturbance, -though it was many miles away. That detachment of police consisted of -only two men, a sergeant and a constable. Numbers have never counted -either way with the Mounted Police, and so these two in the scarlet and -gold uniform rode miles to Pie-a-pot’s camp on the railroad -right-of-way. They told Pie-a-Pot that they were instructed to ask him -to move out of the way, but the defiant chief sat in front of his tent -and encouraged his braves to rush the two police horses with their -ponies. The sergeant and constable, however, sat their horses unmoved -and again warned the chief, who laughed in their faces. Then the -sergeant, pulling out his watch, indicated the minute hand and gave the -chief ten minutes to move. The Indians became more violent, but the -police sat tight and at the end of the ten minutes the sergeant, -throwing his reins to the constable so that the horses would not be -stampeded, leaped over Pie-a-Pot’s head and, entering the chief’s tent, -kicked out the centre pole and brought it down in a hurry. He did the -same with the four tents of the chief’s head-men and then told them to -get out at once. The Indians saw the kind of men they had to deal with -and so they moved swiftly, and the Canadian Pacific surveyors and -engineers went on with their work. - -Not long afterwards there was a similar case, though it did not go so -far. Eastern contractors and workmen, who had not been used to seeing -war-paint, were naturally somewhat alarmed one day when a band of -Indians rushed at them with the air of people who owned the earth and -wished to hold it for themselves. Superintendent Shurtcliffe of the -Mounted Police received an S. O. S. call on that particular occasion -from a contractor who was getting out ties from a bush, and had been -forced to leave “on the double quick” when a chief with the portentous -name of “Front Man” swooped down on his tie gang with a band of yelling -Indians. Shurtcliffe summoned “Front Man” and told him how dangerous a -thing it was to interfere with the progress of work authorized by the -Canadian Government. When Mr. “Front Man” heard that it was practically -the Government he had been chasing, he was very penitent and promised -the Mounted Police officer that he would behave himself in the future. -Whereupon the contractor and his men, with a new appreciation of the men -in scarlet and gold, went back to prosecute, unmolested, their peaceful -and highly necessary tie business. - -There was a famous riot case at the Beaver River in the mountains, early -in 1885, where several hundreds of rough men, many of them reckless -aliens, went on strike during construction, and were backed by lawless -camp-followers at that temporary terminus. There were only some eight -Mounted Police to keep order, although many of the navvies and the -disorderly characters in the place were heavily armed. The police -detachment, however, was commanded by that redoubtable officer, -Superintendent Samuel B. Steele (later Major-General Sir S. B. Steele), -with his second in command, Sergeant Fury, a short, heavy-set, quiet man -who could be all that his name suggested if occasion required. When the -strike was pending Steele told the strikers that he would not interfere -in the question itself as the police never took sides, but he warned -them that they must keep the peace and not commit any acts of violence -or he would punish them to the full extent of the law. - -A few days later Steele was down in bed with mountain fever, and one of -his men, Constable Kerr, had gone to the town to get him some medicine. - -When Kerr was coming back he saw a mob being incited by a well-known -desperate character to make an attack on the barracks and to destroy the -railway property. Kerr, though alone, promptly arrested the man, but he -was overpowered by the mob and the prisoner rescued. Kerr reported to -Fury, who in turn reported to Steele, who was in bed, as the strikers -knew. Steele said, “It will never do to let the gang think they can play -with us,” and sent Fury with one of the constables with orders to arrest -the man. The arrest was made, but the two policemen were again -overpowered and came back to report with their uniforms torn by the mob. -The police were not “gunmen” and never used weapons unless as a last -resort. The limit had been reached in this case, and Steele said to -Fury, “Take three men and go back and shoot any one who interferes to -prevent you making the arrest.” Fury went back with Constables Fane, -Craig and Walters, while the other four constables guarded the barracks -which were slated for attack. Johnston, a magistrate, was there to read -the Riot Act, if necessary. In a few minutes there was a shot, and -Johnston said “Some one in that gang has gone to kingdom come.” Steele -leaped out of bed and went to the window. Craig and Walters were -dragging the prisoner across the bridge over the Beaver, the desperado -fighting like a demon and a scarlet woman following them with oaths and -curses. Fury and Fane were in the rear, trying to hold back a mob of -some three hundred men. Steele called on Johnston to come and read the -Riot Act, and ignoring his own fevered condition, he grabbed a rifle and -started running across the bridge calling the other men to follow. The -mob could hardly believe their eyes when they saw Steele and shouted -with oaths, “Even his deathbed does not scare him.” In the meantime the -desperate prisoner was struggling fiercely with his captors, biting, -kicking and shouting till they were on the bridge, when Walters lifted -his powerful fist and struck him on the head, and, with Craig, dragged -him like a rag into the barracks, where they left him and rushed back to -help their comrades. Johnston read the Riot Act and Steele, rifle in -hand, told the rioters that if he saw any man of them trying to reach -for his gun he would shoot him. He told them to disperse and that if he -saw more than ten of them together he would order his men to mow them -down. And the little detachment of eight policemen stood there with -magazines charged ready to carry out orders. The riot collapsed in five -minutes, and the leaders of it were sentenced next day. The trouble -never cropped up again. The roughs at the Beaver had tried the game of -rioting with the wrong men. And cool, daring men like these were all -along the line to keep the lawless in mind of the fact that lawlessness -would not be tolerated for a moment in the Mounted Police country. - -It is not unexpectedly, then, that we come across two special letters -from builders of the great railway, expressing their thanks to the -Mounted Police. The first is from Mr. (later Sir) William C. Van Horne, -who was not given to saying gushing things. Here it is, - - “January 1, 1883. - - “Dear Sir: - - “Our work of construction for the year 1882 has just closed, and - I cannot permit the occasion to pass without acknowledging the - obligations of the Company to the North-West Mounted Police, - whose zeal and industry in preventing traffic in liquor and - preserving order along the line of construction have contributed - so much to the successful prosecution of the work. Indeed, - without the assistance of the officers and men of the splendid - force under your command it would have been impossible to have - accomplished as much as we did. On no great work within my - knowledge, where so many men have been employed, has such - perfect order prevailed. On behalf of the Company and all their - officers, I wish to return thanks and to acknowledge - particularly our obligations to yourself and Major Walsh. - - “I am, sir, - “Yours very truly, - “W. C. Van Horne, - “_General Manager_. - - - “To Lieutenant-Colonel A. G. Irvine - “Commissioner, - “North-West Mounted Police, - “Regina.” - -And at the close of the next year we find the following from another -very practical man, John M. Egan, General Superintendent of the Western -Line, who did not make incursions into the realm of the sentimental. The -letter runs as follows: - - “My dear Colonel: - - “Gratitude would be wanting did the present year close without - my conveying, on behalf of the Canadian Pacific Railway, to you - and those under your charge most sincere thanks for the manner - in which their several duties in connection with the railway - have been attended to during the past season. - - “Prompt obedience to your orders, faithful carrying out of your - instructions, contribute in no small degree to the rapid - construction of the line. The services of your men during recent - troubles among a certain class of our employees prevented - destruction to property and preserved obedience to law and order - in a manner highly commendable. Justice has been meted out to - them without fear or favour, and I have yet to hear any person, - who respects same, say aught against your command. - - “Wishing you the season’s compliments, - “I remain, - “Yours very truly, - “Jno. M. Egan.” - -Taken together these letters, written by matter-of-fact men, are great -tributes paid to the men of the Mounted Police for the part they played -in those critical periods of the history of the pioneer railway. In such -masses of railway men of all kinds and nationalities thrown together in -construction times, there was constant danger of disorder under certain -conditions. There were amongst these men, many adventurous agitators who -cared nothing for the ultimate success of the railway. Had the -whiskey-peddlers who always hover around such camps been allowed to ply -their nefarious trade, there would have been constant danger to the men -themselves from high explosives carelessly handled. And there would have -been the ever-present menace of unreasonable outbreaks causing delay and -damage to a great and necessary undertaking. No wonder that such highly -practical and observant men as Van Horne and Egan understood and gladly -acknowledged the co-operation of the Mounted Police in a vast national -enterprise. - -People have often wondered how this road, traversing some three thousand -miles across lonely prairie and lonelier mountains, escaped having its -trains held up by robbers, as was common in some other similarly -situated countries. In an official report some years after the road -opened Superintendent Deane of the Mounted Police at Calgary refers to -an effort at train-robbing that year and starts out with the following -revealing statement: “It has for years been an open secret that the -train-robbing fraternity in the United States had seriously considered -the propriety of trying conclusions with the Mounted Police, but had -decided that the risks were too great and the game not worth the candle. -After the object lesson they received last May, it may be reasonably -supposed that railway passengers will be spared further anxiety during -the life of the present generation at least.” - -The special event to which Deane refers was a train hold-up at Kamloops -in British Columbia by a notorious train-robbing expert, Bill Miner, -alias Edwards, etc., assisted by two other gunmen, William Dunn and -“Shorty” Colquhoun. A train robbery had been committed by the same gang -some months before, but local authorities could not trace the robbers. -When the second robbery took place at Kamloops, the railway heads -thought they could not afford to take more chances, although Provincial -Police, especially Fernie, of Kamloops, were doing good trailing work. -Mr. Richard Marpole, then Superintendent of the Canadian Pacific Railway -at the Coast, who was always devoted to the interests of the road, wired -to General Manager (later Sir) William Whyte to secure the help of the -Mounted Police, who were not then on duty in British Columbia. Mr. Whyte -telegraphed to Regina to Commissioner A. B. Perry, head of the Mounted -Police, who, wiring Calgary to have two detachments ready, left for that -point to take charge of the case. From Calgary, Perry (now Major-General -and C.M.G., retired after years of distinguished service) sent Inspector -Church, an excellent officer, with a detachment, to Penticton to cut off -the escape of the robbers over the boundary-line. Perry left for -Kamloops with a detachment under charge of Staff-Sergeant J. J. Wilson, -with Thomas, Shoebotham, Peters, Stewart, Browning and Tabateau. The -weather was bad and the horses secured at Kamloops were poor, but, -despite these handicaps, this posse trailed and captured the robbers, -after a sharp fight, within forty-eight hours. The effect of that lesson -is still apparent, as Deane prophesied. - -When the last spike had been driven on the Canadian Pacific Railway at -Craigellachie, and there was a through train to the Coast, Steele, -above-mentioned, who was back again on Mounted Police work in the -mountains, was given a trip to the Pacific out of compliment to himself -and the force generally. It was a time when the railway men were trying -out the road which they knew had been well constructed. Steele describes -his trip in a semi-humorous way, and speaks of the train going at -fifty-seven miles an hour, roaring in and out of the tunnels and -whirling around the curves. He says it was a wild ride, but adds these -fine words, “Many years have passed since that memorable ride, and -to-day one goes through the mountains in the most modern and palatial -observation cars, but the recollection of that journey to the Coast on -the first train through, is far sweeter to me than any trips taken -since. It was the exultant moment of pioneer work and we were all -pioneers on that excursion.” And we add again, all due honour to the -law-and-order men in scarlet and gold who had watched over the -construction of the long steel trail. - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - Intensive and Extensive Work - - -The Canadian Pacific Railway, after terrific fighting against heavy -odds, had reached its objective in the completion of the main line from -sea to sea. It was a thin steel line reaching across the continent. But -the driving of the last spike at Craigellachie simply gave the Company a -base of operation from which to reach out for other conquests, in order -that the work already done might prove productive of the best results. -Mr. Van Horne, who had a perfect passion for doing new things and for -bringing unknown places into the limelight, saw tremendous opportunities -looming up for the full play of his abilities in that regard. - -It was well for the road and for Canada that he saw the vista thus -opening up ahead with the lure of great prospects for the exercise of -his powers. Because otherwise he might have taken up work elsewhere. It -is well known that more than one board in the States was ready to throw -its presidency at the head and the feet of the man whose astonishing -record on the Canadian Pacific had attracted the attention of the -railway world. In fact Van Horne, on reaching Montreal after returning -from Craigellachie, found a letter (and others followed from several -directions) from Mr. Jason C. Easton, a great banker and railway man in -Wisconsin. The letter expressed the hope that as Van Horne had only -agreed to stay with the Canadian Pacific for five years, he would soon -go back to the States and take a railway presidency there. - -But besides the fact that the bigness of the task still to be undertaken -in Canada held him to this country, the truth is that he had become -personally attached to President George Stephen and his -Scottish-Canadian associates. A little sidelight is thrown upon this -phase of the matter by the incident connected with the driving of the -last spike by Mr. Donald A. Smith (Strathcona). Mr. Smith owned a -country home near Winnipeg, called Silver Heights, once the property of -the Hon. James McKay, the handsome and famous frontiersman and -interpreter who had such a large share in the making of the successful -Indian treaties on the plains. After his removal to Montreal Mr. Smith -allowed the house to remain closed except for the caretaker and those -who looked after the farm stock and such like. On the way west by -special train to Craigellachie, Mr. Van Horne thought it would be a good -idea to have the house at Silver Heights opened up and have a spur-track -laid to it from Winnipeg, as a surprise to the veteran who was to drive -the last spike. When the train returned to Winnipeg the engine was -reversed and the special began backing out of the station. Mr. Smith -after a while noticed it, and then began to look out of the window. In a -little while he said: “Why, gentlemen, if I can believe my eyes this -ground looks familiar and there are Aberdeen cattle just like mine and -that place looks like my house.” The train stopped and the conductor -shouted “Silver Heights.” Mr. Smith was delighted beyond measure and -again and again expressed his appreciation of the courtesy and -thoughtfulness that had planned the surprise. It was just one of the -ways by which the apparently unemotional Van Horne paid chivalrous -personal compliment to the men whose character and courage he had -learned to respect as they stood by him to their last dollar in the -great task to which he had given himself so determinedly for four -laborious years. - -When Mr. Van Horne reached Montreal, after the opening of the main line, -he began to speed up the plans he had been putting already in operation -for the perfecting of the road and the increase of traffic in all -directions. The quality of the road-bed was of even higher standard than -the Government contract required. It will be remembered that once, when -the road-bed was still new, Van Horne had aboard his train a number of -Eastern men who were going out West in regard to the valuation of the -Government section of the road constructed by Onderdonk. While still on -the Canadian Pacific section in the mountains, Van Horne walked up the -platform at Field and said to the engineer, Charley Carey, a fearless, -skilful driver, “Let her out a bit, Charlie, we will show these fellows -that they are on a railroad fit to run on, though the Government section -is not.” Charlie “let her out” and made a fifty-one-mile run in an hour -and wound up by doing the seventeen miles from Golden to Donald in -fifteen minutes, and all safe. When they pulled up there, with a -flourish and flashing fire on the rails as the brakes were put down hard -to prevent running by the platform, the gentlemen from the East needed -no further demonstration. The Canadian Pacific road-bed was all right -even in those early days. - -But Van Horne knew that much had still to be done. Construction had been -careful, but rapid, and steel and stone and cement would have to replace -many wooden culverts and bridges. Trestles had to be filled in or -replaced by stone or steel. Rolling stock, shops, roundhouses, yards, -stations, wharves and all manner of similar things had to be provided. -Branch lines to feed the main line would have to gridiron the country, -and connections would have to be made with the big systems south of the -line. - -Incidentally, it was as a result of his observation before he came to -Canada at all, that he insisted on the Canadian Pacific keeping such -auxiliary utilities as the telegraph, express and sleeping car -departments. These also in their several ways would be feeders to the -main treasury account. They were not the big tent, as Van Horne said, -using a circus illustration; but the side-shows, as he called them, went -a long way to increase the receipts. It had been the custom in other -places to let other organizations have these franchises, but Van Horne -said they took the cream of several kinds of business and “left the skim -milk to the railway.” Van Horne wanted the cream, as the road would need -the money; and so the Dominion Express and the Canadian Pacific -Telegraphs and the Railway’s own sleeping cars, got into business for -the big Company from the start. And these, like the dining car -department and others of the same type, are marvels of service and -efficiency, as every one now knows. - -To speak about the creation of traffic is to use a somewhat peculiar, -but well-founded, expression, because, in this case, it applies to -traffic which had practically no existence before. Nothing escaped Van -Horne’s notice. In the evening hours when he would be in camp on the -prairie during construction time, he took delight in planning sports of -various kinds for the men. “A change is as good as a rest,” is an old -saying with a lot of truth in it. I have seen men apparently fagged out -with a day’s march become lithesome as kittens over a game of baseball -in the evening on the plain. Mr. Van Horne, who was a true artist, -became interested in the bleached bones of buffaloes amongst the -construction tents. And many a great buffalo head with its wide white -frontal bone did the big railroader adorn with sketches made in coal or -pencil, to the delight of the onlookers. And at the same time he was -thinking of traffic in these buffalo bones. In my boyhood I have ridden -through acres and miles of prairie where the white bones of the buffalo -“lay thick as the autumnal leaves in Vallambrosa.” These acres of -skeletons were an indictment against the selfish and greedy -buffalo-hunting sporting men who had rounded up the herds, killed them -by thousands, and took nothing but the tongue and the hide. Van Horne -saw in these vast surface cemeteries how the slaughtered buffalo could -still be of value. And so he had men gather up the bones and pile them -in great heaps along stations and sidings, to be shipped by trainloads -to Eastern factories that were glad to get them. Thus the railroader, -who got the material for the cost of gathering, made good profits for -the Railway, and at the same time cleared the land of an encumbrance. -The man who could think of such things was not likely to fail in -creating traffic. - -Van Horne was anxious to get the country settled up along the great -spaces in the Middle West. So he lured many cattle-men across the line -by the advertising he did for the rich grazing lands in the southern -portion of the North-West Territories, as the prairie country was then -described. He drafted some striking and rather freakish advertisements -for billboards in Eastern Canada, thus “capitalizing the scenery” of the -Great Lakes and the mountains and making a special bid for tourist -traffic. Some of these posters, such as “Parisian Politeness on the C. -P. R.” and “‘How High We Live,’ said the Duke to the Prince,” are -somewhat belittled by smart modern advertisers; but somehow they stuck -in the memory of those who saw them, and that is the acid test of all -advertising. The stream of tourists or other travellers on the main line -was a very small rivulet in those early days, and there are records of -cars with one or two passengers. But all passengers became enthusiasts -over the comfort and courtesy of the road, so that the movement of -travellers is now a steady-flowing river of humanity which, in certain -seasons, almost overflows in a great tide of sightseers and business -people. - -It is interesting to recall in connection with Mr. Van Horne’s -endeavours to secure settlers by various immigration plans, that he -studied social conditions amongst the incoming settlers. That was before -the day of rural telephones and motor cars, and he discovered without -much difficulty that one of the obstacles to settlement of the prairies -at that period was the dread of loneliness and isolation. And the -keen-minded railroader formulated a plan to offset that dread in the -minds of possible newcomers. He thought that tracts of land should be -surveyed so as to permit settlers to live in communities at the apex of -a triangle. In order that they might enjoy the social amenities and -advantages of community life while their farms spread out from that -place of common residence to the farther extremity of the land they -held. It is of additional interest to recall that the introduction of -the rectangular system of land survey from the United States led to -considerable unrest in the Canadian West. It gave Louis Riel a chance to -play on the emotions of the half-breed settlers on the South -Saskatchewan River, where these settlers desired to hold their land as -the early settlers did on the Red and Assiniboine Rivers, their homes -near together on the river bank and the farms running back some distance -on the plain. And Riel told the half-breeds that the Government wanted -to break up their social life and make it difficult for them to have -schools and churches and business places near at hand. In fact, the -introduction of the rectangular survey, with its comparative isolation, -was one of the prime reasons at the base of the Riel Rebellion. So that -Mr. Van Horne had a good idea in operation when he advocated the -settlement of newcomers close together. The Government, however, did not -adopt the scheme. Some settlers, like the Mennonites, followed the plan -of community settlement, even though the square farms made them lose -time in going backwards and forwards to their work. - -Mr. Van Horne’s efforts for the settlement of the country led also to -his company building immense elevator accommodation at the Great Lakes -and providing facilities for transport thereto. - -There were flashes of humour in this grim fight for the settler. Mr. Van -Horne was restively asserting one hard year that the grain-buyers who -were paying only thirty-five cents a bushel for wheat were practising -highway robbery on the farmer. Mr. L. A. Hamilton, the Company’s land -commissioner, said to him, “Why not go in and outbid the grain-buyers.” -The idea appealed mightily to Van Horne and he sent Alex Mitchell, a -grain man from Montreal, to the West to organize some agency and offer -fifty cents a bushel. No one knew that Mitchell was acting for the -Canadian Pacific, but when he offered fifty cents a bushel, grain poured -in on him till all the cars were full and bags of wheat were piled up -along station platforms on account of the car shortage. Then the enemies -of the Railway who were on the lookout for chances to find fault with -the Railway and who, of course, had no idea that the Railway owned the -wheat, attacked the Company because it could not take care of the crop -and ship it out of the country. These active enemies got photographs -taken to show the congestion of the grain at stations and on platforms -along the line. Van Horne said nothing, but had these photographs bought -up by scores and sent abroad to show that the prairies were so -productive that the railway was caught unprepared to handle the enormous -crops. All this was great immigration material, and a boomerang for the -men who had gone to the expense of getting the photographs. - -These things indicate how eagerly Mr. Van Horne was trying to get the -country settled, and generally to build up within its borders, -prosperous and successful communities. There is a theory in the minds of -some kinds of people that a railway like this has been always bleeding -the country to death. Hardly any theory could be more assinine and -ridiculous. It could only spring from the alleged brains of the -unthinking, even though it passes muster as a piece of stump or soap-box -oratory. It may sound well as a vote-catcher, but thinking people will -not be deceived by such a manifest contradiction in terms. The country -and the railway, in such a case as this, must stand or fall together. -Each is necessary to the prosperity of the other. Hence for one to -attempt the destruction of the other is practically a round-about, but -effective, way for that one to commit suicide. And a business concern -has sense enough not to commit suicide. In this connection there is a -fine paragraph in a sort of valedictory review of the history of the -Canadian Pacific Railway, given in 1918 by Lord Shaughnessy, then -President of the Company and Chairman of the Board. It is quoted here in -advance of the chronological order of our story, because it is specially -applicable to the point we are discussing, namely, the interdependence -of the country, and the road. The paragraph is as follows: “The -shareholders and Directors of the Company have always been impressed -with the idea that the interests of the Company are intimately connected -with those of the Dominion, and no effort or expense has been spared to -help in promoting the development of the whole country.” This statement -was intended to cover the whole record of the railway, and Lord -Shaughnessy had such an outstanding reputation for stern rectitude and -straight-flung veracity that we are fully warranted in taking it at its -face value. Hence when we recorded above the efforts of Mr. Van Horne to -extend and create the business of the road in the years immediately -succeeding the completion of the main line, we were justified in saying -that Mr. Van Horne’s endeavours in that regard were in the interests of -both the railway and the country. The Canadian Pacific was from its -inception an integral factor in creating and extending the social and -productive activities of Western civilization. - -Mr. George Stephen (first knighted and then raised to the peerage as -Lord Mount Stephen, in recognition of his great services to the empire -as a railway builder) held the Presidency of the Canadian Pacific from -the beginning in 1880 till 1888, when Mr. Van Horne succeeded him. There -was something very fine in the deep personal friendship that existed -between these two men. And there is something almost pathetic in the -correspondence carried on between them over Mr. Stephen’s desire to -retire from the Presidency, and later on, when his health and age -demanded rest, from the directorate of the road. The President and Mr. -Van Horne had been specially close personal friends from the beginning, -and their intense struggle to build the railway had cemented their -friendship into a type of affection that was unmistakable, even though -these two strong men were not of the kind to be demonstrative before the -curious onlookers by the wayside of life. Stephen, on undertaking the -Presidency in 1881, had indicated even then his purpose to retire when -the task of building the road across the continent was completed. The -greatness of this task was even then foreseen, although the enormous -difficulties that developed, as we have noted in previous chapters, -could not have been anticipated by finite vision. The burden of -responsibility carried by the President was well-nigh crushing. And -there is no doubt that Stephen, at times, felt keenly the fact that not -only did some public men in Canada actually oppose what he was trying to -do for the country, but that even some of those who had stood as -sponsors for the railway undertaking were so slow to appreciate the -terrific strain upon Stephen and his colleagues that they only came to -their assistance after they were humbly besought for aid. Stephen’s -nature was sensitive under these discouragements, but he kept his word -and stayed till the main line was built. It was largely at Van Horne’s -request that Stephen kept on for two years more and thus gave the -General Manager a chance to consolidate and conserve what had been -accomplished as well as proceed with extensions and branches. But in -1888 Stephen retired from the Presidency, and Mr. Van Horne was the -logical choice to be his successor. In a fine letter which has vivid -historical interest to all who know something of the stress and strain -of his term of office, Sir George Stephen, under date of August 7th, -1888, wrote to the shareholders of the Company, his resignation. After -referring to his determination, at the outset, to remain in office till -the completion of the main line, Sir George relates how he remained two -years more at the request of his colleagues. Then he goes on to say, -“warned now by the state of my health, finding that the severe and -constant strain which I have had to bear for the last eight years has -unfitted me for the continuous and arduous work of an office in which -vigour and activity are essential; feeling the increasing necessity for -practical railway experience; and believing that the present -satisfactory and assured position of the Company offers a favourable -opportunity for taking the step I have so long had in contemplation, I -have this day resigned the Presidency of the Company which I have had -the honour to hold since its organization.” After referring to the fact -that he would continue to have an abiding interest in the Company and -remain meanwhile on the Board of Directors, Sir George, reticent and -undemonstrative Scot though he was, goes on to say an evidently -heartfelt word for the incoming President, as follows: “It is to me a -matter of the greatest possible satisfaction to be able to say that in -my successor, Mr. Van Horne, the Company has a man of proved fitness for -the office; in the prime of life, possessed with great energy and rare -ability, having a long and thoroughly practical railway experience and -above all an entire devotion to the interest of the Company.” And so Mr. -Van Horne succeeded in the Canadian Pacific Presidency, his friend, who -was raised to the peerage, choosing the title from one of the lofty -peaks in the Rockies. Thus did George Stephen, erstwhile “herd laddie” -from the North of Scotland and draper’s apprentice from Aberdeen, become -Lord Mount Stephen, and retire to spend his closing years at a beautiful -country seat in the Old Country, where he had some rest from the heavy -burden of responsibility. - -But Mount Stephen still remained on the Directorate of the Canadian -Pacific Railway, and many questions were still referred to him and many -communications by letter and cable passed between him and Mr. Van Horne. -There was some serious effort on the part of Grand Trunk men in London -to bring about a unification of the two railways to be operated under -the capable direction of Mr. Van Horne and his colleagues. But some -indiscreet action on the part of Grand Trunk Directors in regard to -advancing rates in order “to get all they could out of the people of -Canada,” caused Van Horne to call negotiations off and say he would have -no more discussions with men at long range. He had no great love for men -who had tried to block the Canadian Pacific in the money markets of -London, and he had no faith in the idea that a railway in Canada could -be run satisfactorily if men in London were interfering. So the -negotiations were ended and the Grand Trunk went on its extraordinary -way. But that way is not part of our story. - -As we have been discussing the intimate relationship between Mount -Stephen and Van Horne, it is interesting to note that, much to the -latter’s regret, the former President of the road, on account of his -health condition demanding release from business, began to express again -his desire to resign from the Board of Directors. He had remained on the -Directorate and had been actively interested, as we have seen. But now -he must have complete rest from responsibility. He was pressed to stay -on the Board with less active participation, but he declared that “he -could not be a figurehead and give himself no concern,” a statement -which all directors of all companies should take to heart these days. -And there is something touching in the fact that Mount Stephen, himself -feeling the results of the heavy strain, began to warn Van Horne to be -careful of his health and to throw more responsibility on others. As a -matter of fact Van Horne was doing this within a short time after he -became President. For Shaughnessy was moved up to be a Director and -Vice-President and was making his brilliant business qualities felt in -the management of the great enterprise he had seen grow from a small -beginning. - -But Van Horne consented with great reluctance to Mount Stephen’s -retirement. The caution of the quiet Scot had been a fine counterpart to -the intense and almost headlong impetuosity of the practical railway -builder, and a great friendship had grown through the years. So that we -are not surprised when we find that Van Horne had written Mount Stephen -saying, “Your withdrawal would not be the withdrawal of a Director, but -of the soul of the enterprise.” The business world is sometimes as drab -and dead and unemotional as a sand waste, but it has its oasis spots, -and words like those just quoted mark one of them. During those years, -however, it is a notable thing, that whenever a proposal was made even -by Mount Stephen to Van Horne, that the business administration of the -Canadian Pacific Railway should be conformed to English methods, the -bluff railroader refused point-blank. He said that “the English methods -work in England, but they will not do here.” He allowed that the English -system of stabilizing the financial conditions of a railway was the -best, but when it came to operating the road the extent and character of -Canada made English methods wholly inapplicable. Mount Stephen knew that -Van Horne was a past master at administrative operation, and wisely -counselled English capitalists to trust in Van Horne and his Canadian -associates to run the road. When I say “Canadian associates” the -expression must be understood as meaning that men resident in Canada -were to administer and operate the Canadian Pacific Railway. Many of -these men were Canadian born; others in the early days were from -outside; but throughout the years they have constituted a wonderfully -able and efficient and splendidly loyal staff. We have gone forward of -events somewhat, owing to our discussing Lord Mount Stephen’s retirement -and the relationship subsisting between him and the new President. We -may go back a little and see the work of the railway under Mr. Van Horne -in that high office. No other name could have been suggested to succeed -Mount Stephen, but there is something exhilarating and encouraging to -all young men on this continent in contemplating the career of Mr. Van -Horne, who though born in another country and of alien parentage, came -into the British Dominion of Canada and not only overcame any resentment -against his intrusion, but who “made by force his merits known,” till he -came to be acknowledged as one of the foremost citizens of Canada. - -Mr. Van Horne, both before and after he became President of the Canadian -Pacific, set himself not only to create local traffic, travel and -immigration as already recorded, but he also very particularly began to -secure branch lines and connections as feeders to the long main line -from ocean to ocean. In this sort of work he was in his element, -planning new lines and building them, buying out old roads and putting -new life into them, getting access to the big centres of the East and -linking up with the railway systems south of the line. This immense task -of opening new lines and establishing new industries has been continued -by all Van Horne’s successors till the Dominion and a good deal of the -States knows the Canadian Pacific as it knows its city streets and -country roads. In fact the Canadian Pacific is so ubiquitous that men -take with the utmost gravity the old joke that the clocks of the country -are set to the railway time as if the road was in control of the -calendar. All these sayings, grave and gay, indicate such a widening of -the sphere of this road since the last spike was driven that the mystic -monogram “C. P. R.” is understood by every passer-by and the house-flag -of the Company’s fleet is known upon the seven seas of the world. About -this tremendous expansion and a few of the men back of it we may study -more in the next chapter. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - The Guiding Hands - - -Nothing runs itself unless it is running down hill. This saying may be -contradicted by advocates of “blind chance” theories, but, generally -speaking, it will be accepted as a practically accurate statement of all -movements. The Canadian Pacific Railway Company has never allowed things -to run themselves. Strong minds and resolute hands were always at work, -and nothing was permitted to run unguided and uncontrolled. If this vast -transportation system has become one of the wonders of the modern world, -it has not just happened, but it is the result of a deliberate and a -well-ordered plan in which an intelligent sense of personal -responsibility for one’s own share of work is recognized as imperative -in order that the whole system may be a success. A human being is not, -as is sometimes said, a cog in the wheel, but a living link in the chain -of business causation. Every one’s work in every occupation is -monotonous in one sense, and in many cases it seems to the worker that -his or her task is of very little importance. But one can never estimate -the value of work by superficial standards, for the man or woman who -gives a telephone number or raps out a message on the key may be the -means of transmitting messages that will change the face of the world. - -The Canadian Pacific has endeavoured, with a large measure of success, -to magnify the significance of every worker’s task and create a feeling -of _esprit de corps_ in its great army of over one hundred thousand -workers. Hence, for instance, I was not surprised to hear that in a -certain city when a merchant had made a foul public attack on the -Company, a host of the Company’s employees stayed away from that -merchant’s store. They were of the company that had been unfairly -attacked, and they were not going to stand for it. It was in that -spirit, I suppose, that Mr. Van Horne’s faithful porter, already -mentioned, used to put himself along with his “boss,” and speak of both -in the expression “we railway men.” All this means that, from the -beginning, the Company knew that it would owe its success not to any one -man, however great, but to the many who, though guided generally by one -dominating force, would be in particular directed by the heads of the -various departments. - -In the world’s oldest Book, advice of a sage character was given to -Moses, the greatest human leader our world has known, by Jethro, his -father-in-law. The wise old chief saw that Moses was going to break down -because he was trying to do everything himself. And he told Moses that, -in order that he might have time and strength for the heavy task of -leadership, he (Moses) should share the responsibility with others by -“choosing out of all the people able men, and by making them captains -over hundreds and fifties and tens.” The Book which contained that wise -advice was a text-book in the schools of Scotland when George Stephen, -the first President of the Canadian Pacific, was brought up, and one -does not need much imagination to see that such a maxim of wisdom became -almost unconsciously part of his being. In any case, when he came to be -burdened with the Presidency of the great railway, he practised the -advice and passed it on also to others. Hence it was that he brought Mr. -Van Horne to take over part of the burden. Stephen knew his own -limitations. He could raise money, but he could not build railways. -Hence also we find this same Stephen, as we have seen, advising Van -Horne to put some of his load on others; and so Shaughnessy, the General -Purchasing Agent, moved up to be Mr. Van Horne’s first great assistant -and understudy, in line to be “the King of Railway Presidents” in his -time. - -The Canadian Pacific Railway system has now over one hundred thousand -people on its payroll, and their remuneration means a monthly -expenditure by the Company of nearly eight millions of dollars—an -almost incredible sum—for salaries and wages of employees every thirty -days. It would be manifestly impossible to give any more than a few -outstanding names from this formidable host, and even they would be -given with the feeling that they were only representatives of the host -of men and women who in all departments have been, for these four -decades, carrying on their work in a splendid way. - -Titles are now under the ban in Canada, but before that era of extreme -democracy arrived, the Crown had recognized the Imperial services of the -following men associated with the Company: Lords Mount Stephen, -Strathcona and Shaughnessy, Sir William Van Horne, Sir Thomas Tait, Sir -George Bury, Sir George McLaren Brown, Sir Arthur Harris, Sir William -Whyte, Sir Augustus Nanton, Sir James Aitkens, Sir E. B. Osler, Sir John -Eaton, Sir Vincent Meredith and Sir Herbert Holt. Mr. W. R. Baker, who -excelled in social qualities during royal visits, was given a decoration -by our present King. - -But following out our theory as to the importance of every place in -service, my recollections swing from the contemplation of the work done -by men of such remarkable ability and initiative as those above named, -without whom the road could not have succeeded, and I recall more men -than I could possibly mention in many volumes who out in the humbler -places did their enormously important work. Many an hour, for instance, -did I spend on the back platforms of the last coach on the old Southern -Manitoba trains with Charlie Panser, than whom no better or more -reliable roadmaster ever watched the ties and spikes and fish plates and -switches anywhere. Nothing escaped his attention, and his little -notebook recorded his observations in his own way. And I think in that -connection of all the maintenance-of-way or section men, whose faithful -labours through summer heat and winter cold keep the road-bed in -amazingly perfect order. I have seen them fighting blizzards on the -prairie and watching washouts or slides in the mountains, and all with -such astonishing success that there is no more safe roadway in the world -than the Canadian Pacific. I look back in another direction and see old -Gideon Swain, a big, powerful man, who, despite his “rheumatics,” was -general custodian and guard at the old Winnipeg station. He looked after -everybody. He was as gentle as a woman in looking after children and -their travel-weary parents, but woe betide the tough or loafer who tried -to impose on the kindly old gentleman in whose big-hearted organism -there slumbered a volcanic energy against wrong. Once I was there when -the old board platform was cracking in a forty-below-zero morning. Swain -was assisting some ladies and children on a train when two “smart” men -came into the circle and began to swear about something. Turning round -the old station-guard, who looked like a mountain in his coonskin coat, -raised the big stick he always carried and told them in a thunderous -voice to “shut up with talk like that before children.” The men tried to -explain, but Swain would have none of it, and they simply had to subside -and move away with the best grace possible, to escape the wrath of the -guardian of the children. Possibly, like old Constable Richards of the -Windsor Street Station in Montreal, of whom George Ham writes so fondly, -he too has found congenial work beyond the Great Divide where they have -both gone. Incidentally, that is a fine human story of old Constable -Richards telling Lord Shaughnessy at the station gate in Montreal, when -the President was returning from a trip, that he, the old keeper, had -been overlooked when others had got an increase of pay, which apparently -under regulations could not go to Richards, who was being kept on over -the age-limit. The President, keeping some big people waiting, listened -to the old gate-keeper’s story attentively. The next day Richards was -delighted to get an envelope with notice of increase, and the back pay, -but he never knew that Lord Shaughnessy was paying it out of his own -pocket. - -I have singled out these few men from the rank and file, but they are -representative of the loyalty and devotion of thousands in the various -departments. - -Like them also in this do we find the locomotive engineers and -trainmen—steady, careful, cool-nerved men, who know their duty and do -it. Gentlemanly conductors are there, also porters, waiters and the -rest, who all take pride in the road over which they have their runs. -And back of it all are the men in the great workshops, like the “Angus,” -in Montreal, and “Ogden,” in Calgary, and others all across the -continent, the roundhouses, divisional quarters and similar -establishments, where engines and cars are builded and repairs of all -kinds made. Then we have the “live-wire” people in the telegraph -department, and so on through all the ramifications of a vast -organization; but all enter into the life of the system and make it a -marvel of co-operative efficiency. Doubtless there are many here and -there amongst these employees who growl in regard to some of the -conditions of their employment. So have we found men in a military -regiment here and there who exercised their privilege of complaining -against the conditions of their service. But in both cases let an -outsider attack their organization and the _esprit de corps_ and -regimental pride will assert itself so that the man who ventures on -criticism does well if he escapes without some injury. - -We have thus taken a hurried survey of this great host of people in the -employ of the Canadian Pacific. But we must not forget that they have -been, through these years, marshalled and led by remarkable men all over -the system. It is a well-organized army with its parts all closely -linked up and related, so that there is a place for every one and every -one has to fill that place according to the measure of his ability. - -We have written in some fullness already about Sir William Van Horne, -because as General Manager he was the guiding hand in the great days -when the construction of the main line was carried to completion, and -because, both as Manager and President, he began the big task of -creating conditions for the support and extension of the road. Branch -line feeders in the West, and Eastern Canadian, as well as American, -connections, were established and the Pacific shipping service well -inaugurated in his day. Notable lines, such as the Crow’s Nest through -the Kootenay Valley, and the “Soo” Line, from near Moose Jaw on the -prairies to the United States, had been established. Van Horne had said -that he would never leave the Canadian Pacific until “it was out of the -woods.” By 1897 or so things were looking well for the Road. Stock had -run up to par and the land sales for the first time had begun to be -worth while as a source of revenue for the Company. - -It was evident that Van Horne was beginning about that time to consider -modifying his relation to the Railway, and that was so for two or three -apparent reasons. The first was that the Company was never the same to -him after Mount Stephen had withdrawn from the Directorate. Van Horne -missed him terribly on personal grounds. The second was that Van Horne’s -powers were more creative than administrative and he knew it. He -delighted in making a new thing go, but once it was going well he had a -sort of distaste for the detail of keeping it going. He was more -interested in putting a road across the country than in running it. He -loved the Canadian Pacific and knew quite well that his lieutenant, -Shaughnessy, could do the intensive development work and the detailed -administration work better than he himself could. Shaughnessy was ten -years younger and much more active. In fact Van Horne wished, for the -good of the Company, to hand the leadership of it to Mr. Shaughnessy as -early as 1895, but Shaughnessy persuaded him to stay on till the Company -was more firmly established. And besides, Mr. Van Horne, who said he had -wealth enough, wished not only to devote more time to the fine art of -painting and other artistic tastes, but to follow up his farm and -similar hobbies. Moreover, he saw in such places as the island of Cuba -and in other industries than railroading in Canada, opportunities for -exercising his restless creative habit of mind. - - - - -[Illustration: - I. G. OGDEN - _Vice Pres. of Finance_ - - GRANT HALL - _Vice President_ - - W. R. MACINNES - _Vice Pres. in Charge of Traffic_ - - E. W. BEATTY - _President_ - - A. D. MACTIER - _Vice President Eastern Lines_ - - D. C. COLEMAN - _Vice President Western Lines_ - - SIR GEORGE McLAREN BROWN - _European Gen’l M’g’r_ - - _The Present Management_] - - - - -Accordingly we find this Sir William Cornelius Van Horne, who had -started in railroad work at the age of fourteen in another country, and -had made such a world-record in constructive enterprises that he -received the special recognition of knighthood from the British Crown, -voluntarily resigning in June, 1899, from the Presidency of the vast -transportation system he had done so much to create and develop. He -remained as chairman of the Board and a member of the Executive, -retaining his office in the Company headquarters at Montreal and saying -to his friends, “I shall still hang around the old stand.” I recall -reading a statement made by Edward Gibbon when, after years of work, he -finished his world-famous book on the Roman Empire. He said that when he -had written the last page he took a turn in his garden. His first -sensation was a feeling of relief over the completion of the great task, -and then a feeling of something like exultation over what he knew to be -an important contribution to the historical literature of the world. And -then, he says, he realized a sense of loneliness because he would no -longer have his wonderfully congenial daily work, and a sense of loss -because something had gone out of his life as a finished chapter in his -career. - -I think that Van Horne felt all that, when he gave up the Presidency of -the Canadian Pacific Railway, and to say so is much to his credit. He -missed something out of his life. He began to plan trips to fill up the -blank, but not very successfully, as we judge from the following account -of a visit he paid to Monterey in his private car after having seen -California. He says, “I went out on the verandah of the hotel and smoked -a big cigar. Then I got up, walked about the verandah and looked at the -scenery. It was very fine. Then I sat down and smoked another cigar. -Then up again; another walk about the verandah, and more scenery. It was -still very fine. I sat down again and smoked another cigar. Then I -jumped up and telephoned for my car to be coupled to the next train; -and, by George, I was never so happy in my life as when I struck the C. -P. R. again.” There is humour in this, but there is pathos also. Van -Horne was too keen-minded a man not to have foreseen this situation. And -we repeat, as a lasting proof of his devotion to the Canadian Pacific, -that when there came the hour when he felt it was in the interests of -the Railway to transfer the growingly intensive and complex detail of -its administration to the sinewy business hands of Shaughnessy, whose -amazing powers as a financial administrator and master of detail had -been amply tested through seventeen eventful years of the railway’s -history, Van Horne resigned from the Presidency. And thus it was that -Shaughnessy became President in June, 1899. From this date, although Van -Horne remained on the Executive, he in large measure passed out of the -story of the Canadian Pacific Railway. He retained all his financial -interests in the Road, and was always ready to assist as Chairman at -Board meetings by counsel; but to all intents and purposes he felt he -had done his share and was now, by his own choice, handing the work over -to his successor. - -But to a man of Van Horne’s initiative and creative talent, idleness was -unthinkable, and so, when he had unloaded the heavier burden, he took up -some others less weighty, for exercise to keep himself fit. Accordingly -we find him going into such concerns as the Laurentide Pulp Company and -the Windsor Salt Company, and with his usual energy he made them -successful. Then he went to Cuba as a free lance, and by building -railways and other industries he did more for Cuba, as has been said, -than Spain had done in centuries. He continued to reside in Montreal, -busy with many projects, and when the end of life was at hand he said in -effect what Cecil Rhodes, whom he somewhat resembled in driving power, -had said: “So little done; so much to do.” What Van Horne actually did -say was, “I see so much to do that I wish I could keep active for five -hundred years.” But this strong scion of Netherland stock had done a -great day’s work, and his high place in the temple of railway fame is -secure for all time. Though of Dutch descent and American birth, he had -become a British Empire builder under the Red Cross flag; but his dust -reposes in the old graveyard of his people in Joliet. On the day of his -funeral every wheel on the vast Canadian Pacific system came to a stop -in silent tribute to the memory of a Napoleonic fighter in the fields of -peaceful industry. His legal advisor and friend through many years, -George Tate Blackstock, of Toronto, himself a man of most unusual -ability, bore testimony to “the stupendous virility of his conceptions -and exertions.” “He had his faults,” said Blackstock, and he indicates -an approach to egotism in many of Van Horne’s sweeping statements, but -it was not the “egotism of impotence, but of power.” And there is a -place in the battle of life for self-assertion of the right kind. - -We have already met in these pages his successor, Mr. Thomas G. -Shaughnessy. In most ways he was unlike Van Horne. Born in Milwaukee, of -Irish descent, he was tall and athletic in appearance, and altogether -different in that respect from the stocky and heavily-built descendant -of Holland. A newspaper friend of mine, Mr. Hope Ross, of Winnipeg, in a -reminiscent article on Lord Shaughnessy, has the following interesting -note on his appearance and manner, which carries out the impression made -by the same Shaughnessy as a young man on Mr. E. A. James and noted in -an earlier chapter. Mr. Ross says: - - “Many years ago Sir Thomas, as he was then, arrived in Winnipeg - depot with a party, and an inexperienced reporter at once picked - him out as the leader. His dress, his quick manner, his general - appearance, his commanding demeanour, his attitude, all - indicated and revealed his position. As to his dress, President - Shaughnessy seemed on every occasion that I ever saw him as - though he had just stepped from the band box. Everything he wore - looked as though put on that moment for the first time. No one - would, however, suggest that he was overdressed, but just - perfectly, as the successful head of a great corporation should - be. - - “In his general appearance Sir Thomas was the incarnation of - prosperous big business. In nearly twenty years’ reporting - around the Canadian Pacific depot, and later about the Royal - Alexandra Hotel, I met no Eastern banker, railway executive, - manufacturer, statesman, or other who seemed to personify and - embody what is known as the business power of the East as he - did.” - -It was this appearance and type of the President that gave _Punch_ the -opportunity to make the famous cartoon, “The Canadian Pacific.” The -cartoon was just a fine upstanding photograph of Lord Shaughnessy. He -was an embodiment of the vast system of transportation, and _Punch_ had -caught the right idea, as usual. - -Generally speaking, the opinion of many—perhaps of most people, about -Lord Shaughnessy—was that he was a keen, swift and rather hard man. He -could be all that on occasion, and he was usually dignified in his -manner, as became the head of a great enterprise. But those who knew him -well say he was one of the kindest of men. Temperamentally he was -generous, and was always ready to give assistance to those in need, or, -as George Ham put it, Shaughnessy helped many “a lame dog over the -stile,” and said nothing about it. But the fact remains that the popular -impression, as we have indicated, was that he was keen and rather hard -and that impression was a quite wrong deduction, due to his -distinguished manner and detached attitude. It is well to remember that -he was head of an immense army, and that discipline requires a certain -amount of dignity in the officer commanding. - -To have that and also to possess the warm human heart is to have an -ideal officer, like “The Beloved Captain,” as painted for us in Donald -Hankey’s famous book of war experiences. Here again I quote from the -article written by Mr. Ross as it illustrates well the many-sidedness of -the dignified railway President. Mr. Ross says: - - “A little incident of which I was apparently the sole Winnipeg - witness, in connection with Sir Thomas, occurred on a perfect - May morning. The President was to arrive and did arrive on a - special train from Montreal, shortly before eight o’clock, and I - caught him just as he stepped from his car. As usual he was - courteous and ready to talk to the press and said that if I - would wait until after breakfast he would answer any questions I - could ask. His car, the Killarney, was left standing on the - track closest to the depot. The rear was all glass, and all the - members of his party, seated at the breakfast table—there were - not more than four or five—were in full view. Taking no chances - I remained in close proximity, waiting for the end of the meal - when the interview would be obtainable. There was at that time - no train shed at the Canadian Pacific depot and there was a wide - expanse of board walk. At the moment of the little incident to - which I refer this sidewalk was absolutely clear. Strange to - say, there was not a red cap nor a Canadian Pacific police or - official of any kind in sight. A local train was standing on one - track, well loaded, and ready to pull out in a few moments. - - “Suddenly I saw Sir Thomas arise and come quickly out of the - car. Believing that he was coming to meet his appointment with - me, I went forward. He passed me by saying ‘Not yet.’ I then - noticed that a slight, small, foreign woman, in a worn, - discoloured cotton dress, carrying her possessions in a white - sheet, a big package about three feet high and three feet wide - at the widest, and with four small children, was making her way - across the expanse of sidewalk. The conductor had just given the - signal for departure. Sir Thomas hurried to the side of the - woman, gave a signal to the trainmen, took the huge bundle in - the white sheet in one hand and one of the children by the - other, helped the woman to the train, handed the white bundle to - the brakeman, lifted the four children up the steps, aided the - foreign woman up, and returned to his breakfast. A little later - he was telling me in his private car of the plans of the Company - for immigration work that year, about the new lines that were to - be built, betterments which were to be made, and the prospects - for the future in the prairie country, then humming with - prosperity and brimming over with optimism.” - -I can quite imagine this scene at the old station I knew well in the -early days. It was not then so ornate or so much protected by fences and -gates, but it afforded opportunities for deeds of the kind recorded -above. It was a fine, but perfectly spontaneous act, on the part of the -famous President, who saw from his private car the plight of the -immigrant mother. - -Mr. Ross adds another story which reveals a depth of feeling in this -great President, which even the reporter who had been in touch with him -for years had not discovered. Sir William Whyte, that princely man who -had been such a tower of strength to the Canadian Pacific in its most -difficult days, and who had not long before retired when two years over -the age limit, had passed away somewhat suddenly during a visit to -California. The funeral was, of course, in Winnipeg, where he had been -the foremost citizen. Incidentally those of us who knew Sir William -Whyte say a hearty amen to the allusion made to him by Mr. Ross in the -following paragraph: - - “Sir Thomas Shaughnessy had none of the official manner when I - met him in his private office here on the day of the funeral of - Sir William Whyte. Sir William had been a father to me, as he - was to a good many younger men, and his death and burial - concerned me much more than as a matter of news. Sir Thomas was - obviously profoundly moved and I had a different feeling with - reference to him always afterwards. He was never again the - military dictatorial head and President of the corporation in my - feeling with reference to him.” - -This mention of Lord Shaughnessy and Sir William Whyte leads me to -recall an incident of which both these railway men were part. Both held -very strongly that the use of intoxicating drink should be pared down to -the minimum if it was used at all. Once I recall that certain saloons in -the North End of Winnipeg were enticing the employees of the railway to -their premises by putting out notices that pay cheques would be cashed -after bank hours. And one bitter winter night a railway employee who had -used the proceeds of his cheque too freely for liquor was found frozen -to death in the back-yard of the saloon. I saw Mr. Whyte about it the -next day and he was furious over the action of the saloon keepers. He -said, “We will change our method of payment, if necessary, for the -welfare of the men and their families, and perhaps make drinking a -dismissable offence whether on or off duty. Trainmen and others off duty -may be called up for duty any time and they ought to be fit in order to -avoid danger to themselves and others.” One day when both Shaughnessy -and Whyte were on a train which stopped at Moose Jaw, where the Company -had a hotel at the station, Shaughnessy saw some trainmen entering the -bar-room. He called to the General Manager of Western Lines (that was -part of Mr. Whyte’s title) and said, “Whyte, close up that bar.” Whyte -asked, “Now or at the closing hour of the day?” And Shaughnessy said, -“Close it now, and do not allow it ever to open again.” It is quite well -known that Lord Shaughnessy would not tolerate the practice of drink or -any habits usually associated with it. - -Lord Shaughnessy’s power as an executive officer lay partly in the -characteristics indicated already, but mainly in his tremendous prestige -as a man of business whose ability as such was acknowledged the world -over. When he was General Purchasing Agent for the Company he introduced -a system of accounting which is said to have been adopted by the -Corporation of the City of New York. There was no movement in the world -of finance that he did not know about, and his mastery of the complex -problem of international credits, led to his being called into the -councils of the Empire both in peace and war. During the nineteen years -of his Presidency, the Canadian Pacific was brought into a system of -operation which was the last word in efficiency, so that, as already -mentioned, he was called “King of Railway Presidents” on this continent, -where the biggest railway interests of the world are in operation. His -services in the years of the Great War are spoken of more fully in a -chapter on that special subject. Little wonder then, that this famous -chief executive officer of the Canadian Pacific was honoured by the -King, first by knighthood and later by a peerage under the title Baron -Shaughnessy, K.C.V.O., of Montreal, Canada, and of Ashford, County -Limerick, Ireland. - -When the Great War, which left him with a proud, but wounded, heart -because of the death of his gallant son, Fred, at the Front was well -over and things became more normal, Lord Shaughnessy felt that he should -relinquish the Presidency. His age and strength admonished him that he -should take things easier and call a younger man to the office to deal -with the tremendous problems of the reconstruction period. So, after -forty-one years of service with the road, he retired in 1918 from the -Presidency, which he had occupied since 1899, but he retained to the end -the office of Chairman of the Executive Board. Mr. E. W. Beatty was -called to the place in succession to the “King of Presidents” and is -proving that the choice was a wise one. Later on we shall write more -particularly of Mr. Beatty, this youngest President of such an immense -organization. - -It was characteristic of Lord Shaughnessy to insist, despite Mr. -Beatty’s protest, on the young President taking the large and ornate -office room which Presidents had always occupied. Lord Shaughnessy kept -busy at his office in the Board room every day in Montreal, till a -sudden weakness of the heart carried him away after a few hours illness, -on December 10th, 1923. Few incidents in the thrilling history of this -pioneer transcontinental Canadian railway are so wonderfully touching -and, in a true sense, dramatic, as the incident connected with Lord -Shaughnessy’s death. Mr. Beatty was in to see him shortly before the end -came, and to Mr. Beatty Lord Shaughnessy said: “Take good care of the -Canadian Pacific Railway. It is a great Canadian property and a great -Canadian enterprise.” There is nobility and solemnity in the incident. -It was a long way from the entrance of young Shaughnessy to the -Milwaukee Railway, at the age of fifteen, to that scene in the sick-room -in his Montreal mansion. But he had been put in charge of a great trust -in the Canadian Pacific, and to that trust he was “true till death.” - -The passing of Lord Shaughnessy was deeply mourned by the employees of -the road, who were proud of their great “Chief.” And that mourning was -practically world-wide. Perhaps no better summing up of his career was -written than in the London _Times_ editorial, where, after speaking of -his coming from abroad, the writer goes on to say: - - “Here lies half the romance of Lord Shaughnessy’s career. Born - in Milwaukee, a citizen of the United States, he lived to become - not only a citizen of the Dominion of Canada across the border, - but most essentially, a citizen of the British Empire. Under his - administration the double track branched and extended so as to - carry new settlers every year into the farm-lands of Ontario, - through the gateways of the West, into the wheatfields of the - prairies and beyond the Rockies into the valleys of British - Columbia. In building the greatness of the country he served, he - helped to build the greatness of his adopted country and of the - Empire as well. Himself an immigrant, he realized to the full - the vital importance to Canada of a vigorous system of - immigration, and his characteristically outspoken comment on the - possibilities that might be achieved under the Empire Settlement - Act were in marked distinction to the hesitation of some of the - political leaders of the Dominion. - - “Of Lord Shaughnessy it may be said that he was a living - instance of the manner in which the Britons overseas assimilate - the many elements of which they are composed. He came to Canada - from a foreign country as a servant; he remained to be honoured - by the king to whom he gave such loyal allegiance, and to be - recognized universally among his fellow-countryman as the first - citizen of the Dominion.” - -The mantle of Lord Shaughnessy fell upon Edward Wentworth Beatty who, on -Lord Shaughnessy’s passing, became President and also Chairman of the -Board. A young man not far over the forties in years was Mr. Beatty when -he took up the mantle and assumed the high office of the Canadian -Pacific Presidency. First of the Canadian-born to occupy this -responsible position, he bids fair to measure up fully to all its -imperious demands. - -There are unthinking people in the world who have a sort of -compassionate way of wondering whether a man can fill the place of a -great predecessor. But in reality each man fills his own place, and by -the full play of his own individuality makes his own contribution to -history. Each may do work his predecessor could not have done, and, -while keeping up a continuity, each brings a new force into the march of -human progress. It may be interesting in this connection to recall and -summarize the work of these men who, up to this date, have headed the -Canadian Pacific. Hence an extract from an article by the present writer -on the subject, in the press recently, may be introduced in line with -the statement just made: - - “These four presidents were of different types in many ways, and - of quite distinctive talents, but they seemed to be specially - suited for the work which each was called upon to do in the - given period in which he exercised the duties of his high - office. - - “Stephen was a master of finance, whose authority in that realm - was recognized by every one, and whose integrity was beyond - question. In executive boldness he was not the equal of some - others on the road, but the questions he had to face were - largely financial. - - “It was the period when the great railway, owing to the terrific - cost of construction and practical impossibility of selling land - was, financially speaking, gasping for breath. Stephen’s mastery - of financial problems and his high repute in the world of - business made him the man for the hour. - - “So consummate a master of finance was he that before he - relinquished the office of President, every dollar loaned by the - Dominion Government to tide the Canadian Pacific Railway over - the sandbars of construction time was repaid. - - “Mr. Van Horne, who succeeded Stephen in the Presidency, was - particularly gifted in the powers required for the period when, - although the main line was completed from coast to coast, an - enormous amount of work was required in creating traffic, - constructing branch-line feeders, as well as a large amount of - inspection of all lines, the replacement of temporary by more - permanent track and bridge equipment and such like. In such work - Mr. Van Horne had no equal. - - “Mr. Shaughnessy, who came next, brought to the Presidency his - brilliant business gifts, the experience through which he had - passed as Purchasing Agent in the critical days, as well as - extraordinary foresight and withal a determination to maintain - the financial stability of the road. - - “Once, when a Winnipeg newspaper man asked him why the Canadian - Pacific had not launched out into certain projects of railway - building in a new direction, he said: ‘The future is always - uncertain, and an executive must always be prepared to meet - contingencies that may arise and circumstances that may emerge. - The Canadian Pacific is a very large enterprise, and its success - is so vital to Canada that we must exercise due caution. The - surplus assets and the liquid assets must be kept in a condition - to meet all emergencies.’ - - “Mr. Beatty had come to the Presidency in a new day, when legal - as well as financial problems are numerous. Mr. Beatty is an - experienced railway lawyer, as well as a keen man of business. - He is cool rather than impetuous. He has a personality as - suggestive of reserve power as an engine with steam up ready to - go when the time comes. But he will make no hasty and premature - rushes at anything. He speaks well in private and in public and - he is thinking all the time. He has become a leading figure, but - he will never become diffuse or aimless in his thinking or - speaking. He has his powers harnessed and so under his control - that he will not be thrown off the track by outside forces. He - will go far in the railway world.” - -New occasions teach new duties, and the present railway situation in -Canada is unprecedented. President Beatty is evidently treading firmly, -but cautiously, along a new trail and his self-control and keen study of -the situation indicate a remarkable insight and foresight which will -make for a great tenure of a tremendously potent position. - -Biographically it may be noted that Mr. Beatty is the son of a noted -steamship operator on the inland seas of Ontario. The future President -had good opportunity for education in Thorold and Toronto University, -before he entered on the study of law in the office of Adam Creelman, -who was counsel in Toronto for the Canadian Pacific. When Mr. Creelman -moved to headquarters at Montreal, he took Mr. Beatty with him. Mr. -Beatty’s ability and devotion to work made his promotion to the position -of Chief Counsel and a Vice-Presidency rapid. He so studied every phase -of the Company’s great system that his succession to the Presidency came -in natural sequence. - -It goes without saying that all the Presidents were aided and advised by -an exceedingly able staff of wise and experienced men. Where there is -such a host, it is manifestly impossible to even mention many without -seeming “to make invidious distinctions,” as a student once answered -when he declined to name the major and the minor prophets on an -examination paper. But, in addition to those whose names appear -elsewhere in these chapters, a high place amongst the early men who -helped to really build up the Canadian Pacific is given by general -consent to David McNicoll. Once when a friend in Ontario referred to him -as “Dave” he followed it up by saying that they went to school together -in Arbroath, Scotland, and that “Dave” always had great ability. After -some experience on a railway in the Old Land, McNicoll joined the -Canadian Pacific in 1883, when times were hard. He rose steadily to be a -Vice-President and General Manager. He was an encyclopedia on all -matters pertaining to the road, studied maps till the whole country was -an open book to him, and he became known as an incessant worker with all -the grim determination and reliance of his race. He met difficult -situations without flinching, and was a tower of strength to the road -till he practically broke his health through excessive toil. His work is -commemorated by Port McNicoll, as Mr. R. B. Angus and Mr. I. G. Ogden -are commemorated in the great shops bearing their names. - - - - -[Illustration: - _The late_ DAVID McNICOLL - _Vice President - and - General Manager_ - - _The late_ R. B. Angus - - _Former Officers_] - - - - -Then we have such men as Vice-Presidents W. R. McInnes, with the Company -since 1885; George M. Bosworth, head of the Pacific Ocean services; -Grant Hall, with the railway since 1886, a mechanical genius; A. D. -McTier, who began clerking in the baggage department in 1887, and is now -Vice-President, a man of vision; Mr. D. C. Coleman, who started as clerk -in the engineering department at Fort William and who is now -Vice-President at Winnipeg, a man with much literary taste and a hobby -for collecting books; Charles R. Hosmer, who organized the telegraph -service at the beginning; and others whose names will emerge in the -closing chapter, with some account of a few special features in the life -of the road. One does not forget the press service embodied in Col. -George H. Ham, who has popularized the Railway in many lands, nor George -Murray Gibbon, a writer of ability, who now presides over the publicity -department at Montreal. All over the immense system I can see the faces -of men in all departments who were and are contributing to the success -and boundless efficiency of this world-wide organization. They do not -tolerate carelessness, in themselves or others, and, to an extraordinary -degree, they are imbued with the spirit of the great leaders of the -Company who sought to make the whole system a builder of Empire and a -contributing factor to the well-being of the world. - - - - - CHAPTER XV - The Wonders of the Deep - - -The world’s literature in all the ages has much to say about the mystery -and the wonder and the power of the sea. In ancient days Homer made -frequent use of the expression, “the loud resounding sea,” and, in -modern times, Byron apostrophizes the unconquerable ocean and seems glad -to think that while - - “Man marks the earth with ruin; - His control stops with the shore.” - -But here, as elsewhere, the language of writers who have the Theistic -view of things strongly developed is supreme for its vividness and -power. Thus we find the Psalmist saying, “They that go down to the sea -in ships and do business in great waters, these behold the works of the -Lord and his wonders in the deep.” No finer reflection of that saying -has been seen in our day than the verses, - - “There’s a schooner in the offing - And her topsail’s shot with fire - And my soul has gone aboard her - For the Isle of my desire. - - “I must forth again at midnight, - And to-morrow I shall be - Hull down on the trail of rapture - Mid the wonders of the sea.” - -“The Western Sea” beyond the sunset shore of British North America -always had a romantic and fascinating attraction for explorers and -navigators. As indicated in a previous chapter, the hope of discovering -a north-west passage by a sea channel from the Atlantic to the Pacific -had lured some of the most dauntless navigators to hardship and death a -few centuries ago. There is a picture somewhere of an old sea-rover in -uniform and decorations, studying a map of British North America on -which his clenched, determined hand rests, and underneath he is -represented as saying, in this regard, to his eager little grandson, -“This must be done, and Britain must do it.” Well, Britain’s seamen -discovered, after endless persistence, that there was no north-west -passage by sea. But gallant British explorers who remembered the motto -on a famous battle-axe, “I either find a way or make one,” rested not -till they forced a pathway by land to the ocean of their dreams. - -For nearly a century after Alexander Mackenzie, the indomitable -Stornaway Scot, made the pioneer trail to the West Coast, “from Canada -by land in 1793,” a limited trade was carried on laboriously, by trail -and canoe and packhorse, in the mountain region. But when Canada was -brought into a Confederation by linking together the old Provinces in -the East, men of vision saw the vast possibilities of the Western -seaboard. In 1851, as already noted, Joseph Howe, in Nova Scotia, had -outlined the future in a vivid word-painting and caused others to see -the ever expanding destiny of British America. He pictured the day when -not only would “the whistle of the locomotive be heard in the heart of -the Rocky Mountains,” but when Canadian enterprise would reach out to -trade with the teeming millions of the Orient that lay facing the -Pacific shore. Nor should we forget that Sir Hugh Allan, the -master-trader on the Atlantic out of Montreal, long ago coveted for -Canada a business not only trans-Atlantic and trans-continental, but -trans-Pacific as well. - -These visions of trans-Pacific trade and passenger traffic came to swift -realization soon after the Canadian Pacific Railway reached tide-water -at Port Moody, on the West Coast, on July 4th, 1886. Port Moody, as we -have seen, was the legal terminus of the steel trail across Canada. The -Company sent a live-wire agent to Port Moody to look after the freight -and passenger traffic. This agent was a young man named David E. Brown, -who now lives retired in a beautiful home in Vancouver, appropriately -named “The Bunkers,” and appropriately situated in the locality called -Shaughnessy Heights. Brown was born of Scottish parents in the County of -Grey, in Ontario, and still retains, on occasion, the distinctive accent -of his people. He learned the way of Western railroading under that -soldierly man, Mr. Robert Kerr, a great handler of freight traffic at -Winnipeg, and Brown made such a place for himself in the esteem of his -chief that he was assigned to the farthest strategic point where the -rails struck tide-water at Port Moody. It was a great chance for a young -man, and Brown had the will and the ability to make the most of it. -Accustomed to handling freight inland, he was now to tackle coast -traffic all along British Columbia and up to Alaska, for his line. And, -to add to his responsibilities, he was only three weeks at Port Moody -when a sailing brig, the _W. B. Flint_, an 800-ton clipper with a -“Blue-nose skipper,” tied up at the wharf with a cargo of tea from -Yokohama, to be shipped over the new Canadian Pacific Railway to the -East. In some places and at some periods in our day the arrival of a -brig with 800 tons of cargo would seem a quite insignificant event, but -the prow of that particular brig clove open a new doorway to world -commerce. She did not belong to the Canadian Pacific Railway, but led -the way from the Orient for the Company’s steel-clad coursers which now -bridge the oceans and link four continents under the ensign of the -greatest transportation system in the world. But all that was not done -in one day. - -Following the pathfinding _W. B. Flint_ to Port Moody in that July of -1886, came two other sailing vessels with similar cargo, only that the -_Oroyo_, the last of the three, had its cargo so badly damaged by water, -through imperfect hatches, that it was not worth much. Brown, the young -agent, had some things to learn as to what constituted delivery and -acceptance of cargo in such a case, but he met the situation so well -that the Railway came out safely in the end. It was perhaps this -resourceful handling of a new kind of business that so attracted the -attention of headquarters at Montreal to the young agent at Port Moody -that they sent Brown to the Antipodes and the Orient to work up business -for the Railway from those regions. - -This was an eventful commission, but before we follow Mr. Brown on the -trip let us go back and see how the traffic from the Orient began with -the three sailing vessels that came to Port Moody in 1886. It was -through the New York firm of Everett, Frazar & Co., who had some -connection in Yokohama, that Montreal headquarters of the Canadian -Pacific Railway brought this about. It looks like the work of the -persistent, courageous and far-seeing Van Horne. He used to say that he -was “going to make it possible to send a traveller around the world on -one ticket over one system.” And, no doubt, he also determined that as -much as they could secure of the world’s freight traffic would be routed -over the same far-flung lines of travel. He must have planned with his -usual daring, because the tea clipper reached Port Moody on July 20th, -1886, and the first through train from Montreal had only arrived there -on July 4th. It would have been awkward if the cargo of tea from Japan -had to be dumped on the primitive wharf with no train in sight to carry -that cargo to its destination in Eastern Canada. Perhaps, too, it was -Mr. Van Horne who, through Mr. George Olds, of the traffic department, -sent Brown to the Orient. Anyway, I have had the privilege of seeing a -sheaf of personal, intimate autograph letters from Van Horne to Brown, -extending over many years and discussing in the most delightful and -self-revealing way, such artistic subjects as Chinese vases, pottery, -antiques and curios, in which both were interested. Mr. Van Horne did -not throw money away by any means, but here and there in the letters he -asks Brown to purchase some special rarity at what looks to most of us -very generous figures. - -Mr. Brown established connection for the Canadian Pacific Railway with -New Zealand and Australia also. Australia was rather hesitant, though -interested, but Brown appealed to them on grounds of Empire -loyalty—“hands across the sea and let the kangaroo shake hands with the -beaver.” Brown waited in Australia and took part in a celebration that -gave a hearty send-off to the first steamer on the way to Vancouver. - -Mr. Brown made his headquarters at Hong-Kong for fourteen years, and in -that time combed the Orient for traffic for his line. He made successful -visits as far as Bombay and Calcutta, to establish connections, and -called at the Island of Ceylon in the same connection. - -A typical case was that of his call at Ceylon. He ascertained that the -authorities were contemplating sending a large exhibit to the World’s -Fair in Chicago in 1894. They did not know just how best to ship to -points beyond New York. But Mr. Brown went to the Commissioner in charge -and said “I represent the Canadian Pacific Railway, and I can give you -transportation right into the exhibition grounds at Chicago.” They -thought this was daring for so young a man, but they talked it over and -finally Brown got the business, shipping over a P. & O. steamer to -Hong-Kong, thence on his own line to Vancouver and on to Chicago by -rail. It looks simple now, but it was a bold venture at the time. It was -beginning to fulfil Mr. Van Horne’s expectations of sending people -around the world on one ticket. - -One great thing which makes travel desirable is the opportunity of -meeting with interesting and famous people. During one of his trips in -the South Seas Mr. Brown met and travelled with Robert Louis Stevenson, -his wife and daughter. And what could be more interesting than to meet -and talk with “R. L. S., of Scotland and Samoa,” and visit him in his -own island home under the hill, where the dust of the great writer now -reposes on the summit? - -Incidentally, I might add, “R. L. S.” made special reference to Mr. -Brown, as appears in one of his books, saying characteristically, “I am -the general provider for my household (wife and daughter). I have just -supplied them on deck with the company of the Canadian Pacific Railway -agent, and so left them in good hands.” - -Mr. Brown, as mentioned above, remained fourteen years in the Orient -with headquarters in Hong-Kong, but after having had three serious -illnesses there he was ordered by doctors to leave that climate. So he -returned to Vancouver, where the Company gave him the position of -General Superintendent of Trans-Pacific Steamships, a position he -retained till his retirement on pension in 1906. - -Mr. Allan Cameron, who has had very wide experience in several -departments of railway service in different parts of the world, is now -in charge of the Oriental end of the Canadian Pacific Steamship Service, -with headquarters at Hong-Kong, and is making special study of -inter-trade relations between Canada and the Far East. At the Vancouver -end of the business no one of the old-timers is better known and better -liked than the highly competent ships-husband, Mr. James A. Fullerton. -He is now retired, but still haunts the waterfront and takes great -interest in the fleet that he has seen grow from very small beginnings. -Captain Beetham, a practical sea-faring man himself, is in control of -the Pacific shipping, with headquarters at Vancouver, while Captain -Troup, who knows the coast-wise and inland lake and river business like -a book, is in general charge of that important department. With -efficient help in the offices and special agents at home and abroad, the -business in a generation has kept constantly expanding, as the next -paragraph specially notes. - -In the meanwhile, as the years passed from the arrival at Port Moody of -the first “tea clipper” from Japan, the Company’s trans-Pacific business -had grown by leaps and bounds. Following the “tea clippers” from the -Orient to Port Moody, the Company in 1887 chartered three steamships, -the _Batavia_, _Parthia_ and _Abyssinia_, from Glasgow ship-builders, to -go on a regular trans-Pacific run from Vancouver; and the latter’s first -outbound cargo was only forty tons of freight. In 1890 the British -Government contracted to give the Company a subsidy annually, on -condition that three twin-screw steamers were put on the route between -Vancouver, Japan and China. It was to fulfil this contract that the -famous _Empresses_ first made their appearance from the Glasgow -shipyards, specially built for the Canadian Pacific, namely the _Empress -of India_, the _Empress of China_, the _Empress of Japan_, and they -began their work in 1891. - -It was not until 1903, under direction of Lord Shaughnessy, that the -Canadian Pacific went into the shipping business on the Atlantic. The -business on the Atlantic did not have to be created by the C. P. R. in -the same sense as the Pacific trade, and I dwell less upon it for that -reason. The Company purchased fifteen ships from a going concern, the -Elder Dempster Line. This was a good beginning, but more ships soon -became necessary, and the _Empress of Britain_ and the _Empress of -Ireland_ were added in 1906, when the _Monteagle_ joined the Pacific -fleet. Then, in 1914, the _Metagama_ and _Missanabie_ were added on the -Atlantic, the latter being later torpedoed in war time. The _Melita_ and -_Minnedosa_ came on in 1917 and 1918. More recently the largest ship of -all in the Canadian Pacific service, the _Empress of Scotland_, has been -added on the Atlantic, and the _Empress of Canada_ and the _Empress of -Australia_ began the run on the Pacific. These last-named three are, -literally and without exaggeration, floating palaces. There are single, -double and family rooms, suites and special rooms with every possible -convenience, reception rooms, gymnasium, nursery, swimming pool, concert -and motion picture halls, and practically everything necessary to the -comfort of travel. At the date of this writing the _Empress of Canada_, -the _Empress of Scotland_ and the _Empress of Britain_ are just -returning from trips around the world with special parties who have been -six months visiting the chief places of interest under special guidance. -The _Empress of Australia_, built in Germany and coming to the Canadian -Pacific as a result of the War, is most ornately and beautifully -finished and furnished throughout. The directions on the taps and such -like appear in German and English, representing the before and the after -period of the War. This superb vessel, under command of Captain S. -Robinson and a gallant crew, in 1923 was just casting off from the wharf -at Yokohama when the terrific earthquake upheaved that city and -overwhelmed it with tidal waves and fire. The _Australia_ became -voluntarily a refugee vessel, saved many hundreds of lives and, -cancelling her trip to Vancouver, took the refugees to Kobe, besides -giving practically all her stores of food and clothing to the destitute. -For this gallant act, which involved the Company in very heavy financial -loss, I heard the Captain and crew specially thanked by President Beatty -and other officials of the organization. In so doing these officials -showed not only their pride in their men, but their desire to magnify -the human side of business. More recently Captain Robinson has been -decorated by His Majesty King George V with the Order of the -Commandership of the British Empire, and has been lionized and decorated -at many points on the world tour of the _Empress of Canada_, to which he -was transferred. The Captain has said little to the public about the -fearful incident of the earthquake and the sea blazing with burning oil -around his vessel. But he had to make his official report to the -Department of the Canadian Pacific Railway, and despite his efforts to -minimize the greatness of the exploit of himself and his gallant crew, -the incident is fully abreast of the noblest traditions of British -seamanship. - -In order to indicate in a brief way the wide ramifications of the -Canadian Pacific Steamship service, we add that a few years ago this -Company took over the old-established Allan Line, out of Montreal, and -thus added eighteen more ships to her fleet. There is a score of vessels -exclusively for freight on the high seas in all parts of the world, and -there are many vessels, some of them palatial, doing business on the -coasts and inland lakes of Canada, in some cases as links to the rail -services, in others as extensions or feeders of the same. On the Great -Lakes of Canada are five splendid steamships; on the coasts of British -Columbia, and from Seattle to Alaska, there are twenty-five more staunch -vessels, while on the lakes and rivers of British Columbia there is -nearly another score. There is steamship service also between St. John, -New Brunswick, and Digby, Nova Scotia, while the Canadian-Australasian -Line, one result of Mr. Brown’s pioneer efforts, operates between -Vancouver, Victoria and the Antipodes. - -All this sounds like a formal list of facts, but it is an amazing record -of achievement in the course of less than two score years. From the -tea-laden clipper of eight hundred tons that tied up to the wharf at -Port Moody in 1886, the tonnage has rolled up to the vast total of -considerably over half-a-million. The Railway Company which in 1886 -chartered three tramp steamers for the Pacific Ocean trade, now has an -immense fleet of its own on the great oceans, on the Mediterranean, -Carribbean, Adriatic and South China Seas, as well as upon the wide -coasts and inland waters of this broad Dominion of Canada. From the -small beginning the Canadian Pacific has become the world’s greatest -transportation system under one management by sea as well as by land. - -Back of all that material and visible result is the astonishing story of -the thought and action of strong men which is difficult to put down on -paper. There have been master minds as well as courageous hearts and -willing hands at work during all these years, thinking, planning and -executing daring things for the expansion and extension of this vast -enterprise. It has been my privilege to know many of these men in almost -all branches of the service. My judgment is that, on the whole, these -men were singularly free from any desire for personal gain. They had the -far mightier stimulus of being engaged in a world business for the -development of hitherto unrealized natural resources in many lands, and, -subconsciously perhaps, they felt that the main object of their -endeavours was the ultimate advantage of all mankind. In that frame of -mind giants toiled in the early days, and there is no reason to think -that their type is not reproduced in the men of to-day. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - War Service - - -The Canadian Pacific Railway was and is a triumph of constructive -endeavour in the days of peace. We have spoken of the army of men at -work, from the turning of the first sod, all through the grading, the -tracklaying and the operation of the road, as a peaceful mobile army -which moved with tireless tread in the march of civilization. It was the -business of these men to build and not to destroy, to gather together -and not to scatter abroad, to conserve and not to dissipate the natural -assets of Canada. In doing this work the Railway would be performing a -great task in relation to the stability of human society and would send -coursing through the arteries of commerce that national and -international trade which has so much to do with the calm health of the -world. But, alas! there are times when the peace of the earth is rudely -interrupted by some megalomaniac who kicks the anthill of the world’s -population and sends the inhabitants into wild confusion. In such times -it becomes necessary to resist and subdue the disturber, if need be, by -force. Pacifism is a high ideal if all would seek to work it out -together; but, changing to another figure of speech, we all know that it -is useless to reason with a mad dog running amuck on the world’s -thoroughfare. Hence there are occasions, unhappily, when the peaceful -have not only to stand on the defensive but to carry war into the -enemy’s country, so as to compel the inciter to war to remember that -other people have a right to life and liberty and happiness on this -round globe. On such occasions the machinery of traffic has to be -temporarily diverted, in some degree, from its accustomed employment and -swung into the conflict for ultimate peace. - -In this regard the great railway of which we are writing has done its -startlingly large share at home and abroad. It will be remembered that -the road was not finished over the North Shore of Lake Superior when Mr. -Van Horne, who had, months before, offered help in such a possible -emergency case, transported troops to the scene of the Riel outbreak on -the North and South Saskatchewan. We spoke specially of the North Shore -in relation to bringing troops from the Eastern Provinces, but we must -also bear in mind that troops were rushed from Winnipeg westward with -pronounced effect. Those were my student days in Winnipeg, but it was my -privilege to be one of the Winnipeg Light Infantry which was specially -raised and rushed on the new road by troop train to Calgary. This was an -exceedingly important movement, because the massacre at Frog Lake, down -the North Saskatchewan from Edmonton, had taken place and the Indian -tribes were very restless all over the vast area from the boundary line -away to the north. We left some companies at points in what is now -Southern Alberta where the war-like tribes of the Blackfeet, Piegans, -Bloods and others had their habitat. Their great chief, Crowfoot, -befriended in the early days by the Mounted Police, was loyal, but young -braves under the prevailing excitement might break away and were none -the worse of seeing a few red-coats in the locality. From Calgary the -rest of our regiment, along with the 65th of Montreal, and a few -splendid Mounted Police and Scouts, marched north to Edmonton. We passed -through some tribes that were very much agitated by Riel’s runners, and -on to Edmonton, which, but for the timely arrival of our column, would -have shared the fate of Forts Pitt and Victoria, not far away, which had -already been looted and burned by the Frog Lake and other Indians under -Big Bear and Wandering Spirit. Similarly, were troops rushed westward -from Winnipeg to Swift Current, whence they marched for the relief of -Battleford, which was beleaguered by Indians, and farther east others -went on the railway till they came to the point nearest Batoche, where -Riel and Gabriel Dumont were at the centre of revolt. Riel had sent his -runners out in all directions, saying to the Indians that there were -only a few Mounted Police in the country and that the Queen’s soldiers -could not reach the Far West. My own recollection is that the Indians -amongst whom we came were positively amazed at the suddenness of our -appearance in their remote districts. Prevention is better than cure, -and there is no doubt at all but that the effect of the inflammatory -appeal of Riel was headed off by the swift arrival of soldiers. But for -this the whole prairie might have been overrun by maddened Indians, who -would have made many massacres like that of the nine unfortunate white -men whose mangled bodies we buried on the Frog Lake Indian Reserve. -After the rebellion was crushed, the Government at Ottawa took many -Indian Chiefs to the Eastern Provinces in order that these Indians might -see the strength of “the Queen’s people.” This trip was an effective -deterrent on any more uprisings and not the least of the influences for -peace were the “fire wagons” that drew trains along steel trails with -such swiftness that the Indian ponies were left hopelessly behind. The -Riel outbreak was not a great war, but it might have led to massacre, -pillage and ruin only for the demonstration of power made possible by -the railway transport before the flame of revolt got fairly started. For -that service, of enormous value to Canada and the Empire, we who knew -the situation will always be grateful for the work of the Canadian -Pacific in a critical hour. The swift suppression of the Riel revolt put -the all-Canadian railway conspicuously on the map of the Empire as a new -element of power in her far-flung battle-line. - -When the Great War broke over the world so suddenly in 1914, the -Canadian Pacific had, in the interval since Riel’s outbreak and the -primitive line of that day, grown into the world’s greatest -transportation system by land and sea. It is remembered now of course -that the War took most people unawares, so that they acted in the -emergency according to the attitude their manner of thinking had -developed. It is a striking comment on the thinking of President -Shaughnessy, of the Canadian Pacific Railway, that while others in -various places hesitated he at once put the resources of the Company, -with its world-wide system on land and sea, at the disposal of the -Empire. This was all the more remarkable when we recall that he was -foreign born and had only come to Canada when he had grown to man’s -estate. The fact was that he had become intensely Canadian. It seems a -law of human life that people come to love the cause for which they make -sacrifices. Shaughnessy had sacrificed much for Canada and its progress. -He had left his own country and his home at an age when these mean much -and when for him certain promotion on well-established roads was within -reach. He had come to a new enterprise in a comparatively new country -with an uncertain future and he had passed through circumstances that -imposed upon him, for some years, a mental strain which amounted to -positive suffering. I do not suppose that either he or Van Horne ever -became less attached to their native land to the south of the line, but -the stupendous undertaking of Canada’s pioneer transcontinental railway -so absorbed the intense devotion of all their energies that they became -profoundly Canadian. They did not love the United States less, but the -immense enterprise to which they gave the best years of their lives in -Canada bound them with unmistakable loyalty to their adopted country. -When the War broke out, Mr. Van Horne had retired from active service in -the Canadian Pacific and was in poor health, but his heart was in -sympathy with Canada and he exerted himself to do what he could. -Shaughnessy, as we have said, wheeled the whole system into line to help -win the War. The transcontinental trains had to be kept moving with -precision, to transport troops and to rush to the front stores of food -from the granary of the Empire on the Western plains. But the huge -workshops were turned into shell factories and became hives of industry -for the manufacture of the destructive enginery of war. Shaughnessy, at -the request of the Home Government, loaned to the work of war -transportation some of the ablest officials of the Company in that -department. In an effort to reorganize the broken-down transportation of -Russia, Shaughnessy sent to that strange land one of the keenest minded -officials of the Canadian Pacific in the person of George Bury, who was -knighted for the efforts he made there in a period seething with -discontent and revolution. - -Although it would not do to cripple the system at the home base, every -facility was given to employees to enlist for military service abroad. I -have seen with Mr. F. W. Peters, the popular and efficient General -Superintendent of the Railway in British Columbia, a copy of the -instructions issued by Shaughnessy and sent out to leading officials all -over the system. It was intimated therein that to all employees who -enlisted, their full pay would be continued for six months (many thought -the war would be brief) and that places equivalent to those they had -occupied when they enlisted would be given to those who returned. There -were over eleven thousand enlistments and of these about eleven hundred -were killed in action. So well was the promise as to re-employment kept -that former employees to the number of nearly eight thousand were taken -on again, and in addition some fourteen thousand other returned soldiers -were given situations—a most remarkable showing. It is quite well known -that the Company also did all it could for the dependants of those who -did not return. - -In tribute to the unreturning brave the Canadian Pacific erected -permanent memorials in bronze and tablets all over the system in order -that succeeding generations might not forget. Upon each bronze monument -and each tablet are these fine words: - - “To commemorate those in the service of the Canadian Pacific - Railway Company, who, at the call of king and country, left all - that was dear to them, endured hardship, faced danger and - finally passed out of sight of men by the path of duty and - self-sacrifice, giving up their own lives that others might live - in freedom. Let those who come after see to it that their names - be not forgotten. 1914-1918.” - -We have been thus far studying the war service of the Canadian Pacific -with our minds principally upon the forces drawn from the land portion -of the system. But there is in some respects a more wonderful record on -the sea. Not that the men on the sea were more valorous than those on -the land; but the men on the sea, being located in ships, were more -easily followed than the men who in the land or the air forces were -scattered in various localities on many battle fronts. - -Almost every ship of the Canadian Pacific fleet went on war duty, and -fifteen of these were lost by torpedoes or mines or other similar causes -on the high seas. These lost vessels represented over a third of the -tonnage engaged. Behind this simple statement are many tales of heroism -of which there is no permanent record, and there are achievements of -thrilling importance done in practically all parts of the world. It is -possible for us to give only an outline which can be filled in with -deeds of gallantry and valour by the imagination of any reader who knows -the traditions of our British men on the high seas of the world. - - “If blood be the price of Admiralty, - Lord God, we have paid it full: - We have strawed our best to the world’s unrest, - To the shark and the sheering gull.” - -By following the log of some of the Canadian Pacific vessels we get at -least some of the bare facts. - -The _Empress of France_ had barely reached the dock at Liverpool, two -days after war was declared, when she was requisitioned for special -service by royal proclamation. Within a few days after her cargo was -unloaded, all passenger accommodation and other wood work was removed. -Armed with eight six-inch guns, she was sent out, manned by a naval -crew, to patrol in the North Sea between Shetland and Iceland, and -became, a few months later, the flagship of the patrol squadron, in -which service she intercepted 15,000 ships. Later, she was transferred -to convoy service in the North Atlantic route. In that service she -escorted nine convoys of twenty vessels each, carrying per convoy about -30,000 troops, mostly Americans on their way to the front. Some -indication of the extent of the war service of the _Empress of France_ -may be gathered from the fact that while in commission she steamed -267,000 knots and consumed 170,000 tons of coal. These figures as to -only one vessel out of many, tell little of the services and the -hardships of a gallant crew, but they shed some light on the frightful -monetary cost of war. - -The _Empress of Britain_, one of the new and large vessels, was fitted -out as a transport, carrying troops to the Dardanelles, Egypt and India; -also from Canada to the Western Front. Besides her own crew she -accommodated 5,000 officers and men. During one of her trips across the -Atlantic with a full complement of crew and soldiers, a German submarine -launched two torpedoes, one of which missed the bow by three feet and -the other passed some ten feet astern. It was all in the day’s work; but -that was a close shave “between the devil and the deep sea!” - -The splendid new steamer, the _Calgarian_, of the Atlantic service, was -one of the many Canadian ships sunk by the enemy during the War, but not -before doing some notable work. Along with the famous _Vindictive_, the -_Calgarian_ blocked Lisbon to prevent German ships sheltering there from -coming out on raids into the Atlantic; and later, for nearly a year of -continuous service, was stationed outside New York to prevent the escape -of German ships interned there. Then, when she was convoying thirty -vessels across the Atlantic, she was torpedoed and sunk with the loss of -forty-nine men. - -Our old Pacific Coast friend, the _Empress of Russia_, had a thrilling -experience as an Admiralty cruiser. She left Vancouver for Hong-Kong on -her usual run in August, 1914, but she was already designated for war -service. At Hong-Kong her interior fittings were taken out and replaced -by coal bunkers, and eight guns were mounted fore and aft. British Naval -Reservists and French gun crews were put aboard in place of the Chinese -hands, and the _Empress_ started out to work. Shortly afterwards she met -the pride of Australia, the cruiser _Sydney_, after that gallant ship -had smashed the wicked German rover, the _Emden_. The _Russia_ took off -the prisoner members of the _Emden_ crew, including the Captain, Von -Muller, and put them out of commission by landing them at Ceylon. With -the help of some Indian troops, she captured the Turkish fort of Kamaran -on the Red Sea. Then, for twenty-three days, she and her sister Canadian -Pacific vessel, the _Empress of Asia_, guarded the British port of Aden -until the arrival of British warships. After some more dangerous -experiences, the _Empress of Russia_, the _Empress of Asia_, the -_Empress of Japan_, the cruiser _Himalaya_, and the destroyer _Ribble_, -kept in blockade the Port of Manilla, where fifteen German ships were -hiding in the hope of getting out with supplies to their war vessels. -Finally the _Russia_ spent a year cruising in the East, and then, when -the War was over, slipped back quietly on to her old peaceful run out of -Vancouver to the Orient. - -One can only sum up in a wondering way the enormous service done for the -Empire by this great railway company, by saying that during the War, -Canadian Pacific ships carried over a million troops and passengers on -war business. They carried over four millions of tons of cargo and -munitions of war, and many thousands of horses and mules for transport -service on the field. And perhaps one of the most amazing and -least-known feats of the Canadian Pacific was the carrying to and from -Flanders and France, through Vancouver, of what seemed a numberless army -of Chinese from the North of China, who went out to do the unskilled -labour on the field and thus released thousands of the allied soldiers -for the fighting line, who otherwise would have had to do this highly -necessary non-combatant work. - -Letters from Mr. David Lloyd George, the dynamic war-time Premier of -Britain, and others, to the Company and to officials, conveyed the -appreciation of the Old Land to the Canadian Pacific for its unique -assistance in a crisis hour. Many decorations worn by Canadian Pacific -men who served on land and sea, and the scars of battle on many of her -ships, attest the unique way in which President Shaughnessy (one of -whose sons fell in action) and his wide-reaching organization came to -the assistance of the Motherland when vital things were in danger. Let -this great service not be lost sight of when petty matters and little -controversies in commercial life have their innings. - -A peculiarly striking sidelight is thrown on the general subject of war -by the changing attitude to the subject of Sir William Van Horne, who -lived only a year into the war period, but who studied it all with the -thoroughness so characteristic of the man. Some years before the Great -War he had written to Mr. S. S. McClure, in New York, almost in praise -of war as a creator of heroisms and an inspiration to valiant endeavour. -But as he studied the Great War, with its horrible engines of -destruction, high explosives and silent, stealthy weapons of death on -land and sea and in the air, he began to see the monstrous side of such -a method for settling international differences. He saw the frightful -annihilation of some of the brightest young men whose record he knew in -his own organization, and whose services to the country, had they been -spared, would have been beyond price. One would like to have had his -changed attitude put into words by himself in his own vivid and vigorous -way. Perhaps he would have left us an expression of assured hope that -the day would come - - “When the war-drums throb no longer - And the battle-flags are furled - In the Parliament of man, - The Federation of the world.” - -But, despite all its horrors, war has, for human society, some -compensation in the fact that it reveals suddenly certain elements of -good in the world whose existence we had only dimly realized before. I -remember how, as a boy, riding on horseback over the prairie in dark -nights, I used to conjecture in a vague way as to the character of the -trail ahead and as to what life of man or animal might be shrouded in -the blackness. And I recall how fascinating it was to have flashes of -lightning break recurrently now and then from the clouds, each flash -burning its way into the darkness, revealing the trail, showing cattle -and horses and the humble homesteads of pioneers who were beginning to -settle on the plain. It has sometimes seemed to me that war is a flash -of lightning which reveals much hitherto only dimly imagined as existing -in society. That it reveals many mean and disquieting features and -qualities in human life goes without saying. But that it also reveals -many noble characteristics, is amply demonstrated. The recent Great War, -for instance, revealed the greatness of the common man who, from some -unspectacular occupation, where these qualities were present but -unnoticed by the community, went out where the lightning flash of war -disclosed to the world marvels of heroism and self-sacrifice. Similarly, -we often discovered in the common business world and amidst business -organizations at home, a readiness to serve and sacrifice which before -had only been dimly understood as existing at all. The War revealed it. - -The Canadian Pacific Railway, which had overcome early difficulties on -the road to success, was probably regarded by the average Canadian with -some patriotic pride as a prosperous organization, but possibly he -thought it was not much concerned about things beyond its own welfare. -Yet it is not too much to say that the War suddenly revealed in it vital -qualities of loyalty to the Empire and showed the Company personified as -a good citizen of Canada. As a citizen it threw itself into the business -of helping to defend the country and to assist in making conditions as -good as possible in war times. - -The recent incident in the earthquake in Japan will illustrate my point -as being in keeping with the traditions of the Company. There at -Yokohama the Canadian Pacific steamship, the _Empress of Australia_, as -related elsewhere, was just casting off, when the earthquake took place. -Taking interest in the safety of themselves and their ship mainly as a -means of helping others, Captain Robinson and his gallant crew became a -band devoted to heroic rescue. We need not detail the story here, but, -the captain and men, knowing the traditions of the Company, did not -consider for a moment the immense expense and loss they were incurring -in cancelling a voyage and placing the ship and all their stores at the -disposal of the suffering and destitute. - -The War gave the Canadian Pacific many opportunities of living up to -these traditions, and the Company did not fail. While its ships were -being sunk in service on the high seas and its general business on land -was being dislocated, the Company did its part as a citizen in the -enlistments, as already recorded. But, in addition, every good cause -which aimed at alleviating human suffering and administering to human -comfort found what to some must have seemed a surprisingly large support -from the Company. Hospitals at home and field hospitals abroad, Red -Cross movements, nurses’ homes, returned soldiers, disabled men and -their dependants, Y. M. C. A’s, Salvation Army efforts, and all such -persons or organizations were on the list for assistance in a big way. -The War brought this out more distinctly, but it was part of the -Company’s tradition. It is trustee for the funds of its shareholders, -and cannot throw these funds away to improvident people or undeserving -causes; but it uniformly seeks to help the community in the interests of -the general weal. The Canadian Pacific Railway, owning and maintaining -in Canada an enormous amount of property and employing over one hundred -thousand people, who receive eight millions monthly in salaries and -wages, is manifestly an extraordinary contributor to the upkeep of the -Dominion in the ordinary business way. When we add to this the fact of -the Railway’s support of all worthy causes, we are able to estimate in -some degree the value to Canada of its citizenship. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII - The Floodtide of Wheat - - -But for the fact that it is verified by actual tabulation, the statement -that the Canadian Pacific Railway during the autumn of the year of grace -1923 carried two hundred and fifteen million bushels of grain over the -steel trail, en route to feed the hungry in all parts of the world, -would seem, to some of us, incredible. This huge scale of grain -transportation means that about one hundred and thirty thousand cars -were charged with the duty of taking to the world’s markets the -magnificent product and offering of the vast prairie country of Canada. -In the above sentences we personify both the cars and the prairies, -because it does not require much imagination to speak of such prolific -soil and such burden-bearing rolling stock as if they were instinct with -life. The fact that behind them both is the splendidly strong endeavour -and the passionately devoted skill of faithful men and women, seems only -to add force to the personification of the elements of production and -distribution, which, under Providence, they use for the good of the -world. To some of us who look back to earlier days in the West, there is -vivid romance in this development, and there is a sort of Alladin-lamp -wonder in the transformation which the above statements indicate. - -Agriculture is the oldest and the most distinctively fundamental -industry in human society. It is by no means the easiest. It knows -scarcely any limitation in the hours of toil, and its most strenuous and -imperative duties come at a time of the year when city dwellers seek the -cool shades of the holiday season. But it has some strong compensations. -There is the consciousness of being in an occupation absolutely -essential to the existence of humanity, and one that involves dwelling -near to Nature’s heart, unafraid of privation and want. Rural life has -opportunities and spaces for meditation, which is in danger of becoming -a lost art in some other spheres. Farms are feeders of cities in more -ways than one. They give leaders to the public life and learned -professions of the nation, and but for the fresh blood that farms pour -into cities every year, these centres would die of pernicious anemia. -Those of us who were born on farms and recall our boyhood days can -understand how, in the nerve-wracking anxieties elsewhere, men can enter -into Whittier’s fine picture of the country lad who knows nothing about -insomnia and indigestion: - - “Blessings on thee, little man, - Barefoot boy with cheek of tan, - With thy turned up pantaloons - And thy merry whistled tunes; - With thy red lips, redder still, - Kissed by strawberries on the hill; - With the sunshine on thy face - Through thy torn brim’s jaunty grace; - From my heart I give thee joy— - I was once a barefoot boy.” - -As suggested above, some of us have seen much development since the -railway came. I recall the small fields of grain in the original colony -along the Red River and the somewhat larger ones that began to open out -on the prairie. When reaping was done with the sickle and cradle, and -threshing with the flail and the two horse treadmill, the acreage under -cultivation could not be large. And though, in my time, our people began -to bring in reapers from St. Paul by cart-train, even to that wonder -which we called the “self-raker,” there was little inducement to grow -much, because there was only a small local market and no way of -exporting. Things were in that condition when the Governor-General, Lord -Dufferin, and Lady Dufferin, visited Manitoba and drove the first spikes -in the Pembina Branch of the Canadian Pacific Railway on September 29th, -1877. That branch was on the east of the Red River and some years went -by before the steel crossed at Winnipeg and reached the prairies. But -even in 1877 there was more grain being grown than could be marketed at -home. And the eloquent Dufferin referred to the situation in his own -sympathetic way when he said, near the conclusion of his famous address -in Winnipeg, “You have been blessed with an abundant harvest, and soon, -I trust, will a railway come to carry to those who need it, the surplus -of your produce, now, as my own eyes have witnessed, imprisoned in your -storehouses _for want of the means of transport_. May the expanding -finances of the country soon place the Government in a position to -gratify your just and natural expectations.” - -Meanwhile, as they waited for the longed-for and greatly needed railway -to come, some of the early settlers were experimenting in growing grain -that would be adapted to the soil and the climate. There were some who -thought that wheat could not be grown to perfection very far west and -north of the Red River. But there were others who felt differently. - -I recall that excellent man, eloquent of speech and graceful in manner, -J. W. Taylor, the United States Consul at Winnipeg, often called -“Saskatchewan” Taylor, by reason of his personal knowledge of our -North-West country. Despite the fact that some of his countrymen to the -south might not like it, Consul Taylor persisted in saying that north of -the international boundary was “the very home of the wheat plant.” And -had he lived to see it, his kindly heart would have rejoiced when wheat -grown at Fort Vermillion on the Peace River, a thousand miles north-west -of Winnipeg, took the first prize at a World’s Fair in his own country. - -In any case the good consul did much to bring about this present day by -helping the settlers to select suitable grain. Many a time, for -instance, did he bring, in envelopes, to my father on the old Red River -homestead, samples of wheat he had received from different parts of the -States. And he and my father, who were great friends, would plant these -in garden plots and wait through the summer to see which would come to -perfection during the season before the frost arrived. Some of this same -wheat was given to others till the original contents of the selected -envelope produced a harvest in many fields. - -Later on came benefactors like the painstaking Professor Saunders and -Seager Whealler, and others who, through careful seed selection, -transformed the face of the country by making it possible for harvests -to ripen where nothing of that type ripened before. Thus it became -possible in the year 1915, when our Empire was at war, for the great -prairies to pour out their millions in wheat and flour to help in the -battle for freedom. The soldiers in uniform at the front were supported -by the soldiers in overalls at home, or the War could not have been won. -And of these at home the soldiers of the soil deserve to be mentioned in -despatches for their strenuous work in the greatest feeding industry of -the world. - -And now, beside the stations along the pioneer Canadian Pacific and its -endless gridiron of branch lines on the prairie, we have been seeing in -these recent autumn months of 1923 the teams with the drivers, waiting -their turn at a thousand elevators. The river of wheat on the main line -is being swollen into floodtide from the tributary branches. Back of the -railway and headed towards it, we have seen apparently interminable -lines of wagons laden with grain. Like a long procession of industrious -ants we have seen these wagons coming along the level plain, then up and -down the ridges, to empty their loads at the capacious elevators. Thence -the grain is poured into the cars which stand by on the steel trails -behind panting locomotives—iron horses that chafe and tug with -impatience to get way. And they must get away as quickly as possible, -for other trains are ready to use the sidings to relieve the pressure -caused by the wagons pouring their load into the elevators. A great army -of men are at work and thousands of horses. But it is a beneficent, -constructive army of men, with their lumbering artillery of horses and -wagons engaged in the gigantic task of sending food supplies to the -great centres of population all over the world. The elevators are the -peaceful headquarters of a great staff employed to transfer foodstuffs -from these prairie commissary stores to the railway trains which carry -them in rushing torrents of speed to the great lakes, the canals and the -open sea. It is in great and wonderfully significant contrast to the -scenes from which we take this illustration, when militarism made its -way unchecked, and, on a hundred battle-fields, we saw wounded men and -tortured horses and derailed trains in the havoc of war—“rider and -horse, friend, foe, in one red burial blent.” Canadians have proven -their mettle, as a peace-loving people will always do when aroused to -resist wrong, but ours is not a militaristic nation. And we should take -a noble pride in seeing in these peaceful, industrious hosts on Canadian -plains some fulfilment of the promised time, when “men shall beat their -swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks and study -war no more.” - -The scenes in the time of the grain marketing movement to the railway -and the elevators suggest massed formation for peaceful ends. But back -of this massed formation is the individual home on whose character and -success the future of the country depends. Tales, more or less mythical, -perhaps, but with some foundation, are told of city-dwelling lads who -thought of milk and bread as the product of the milk-wagon and the -baker’s cart. But it is probably quite true that there is not enough -thought given to the household on the plain where the origin of food -products is better understood through the toil of the day. The -homesteader on these great wheat areas had no easy task. The breaking of -the land, the struggle to make ends meet till the farm became -productive, the endurance of summer heat and winter cold, were all part -of the daily round and the common task, and no human pen will ever fully -portray the heroism of the pioneer women who bore their share of every -burden and kept their homes in order without many of the comforts and -facilities that are available to city dwellers. Then there came later on -the care of stock, the sowing, reaping, threshing and marketing—in all -of which there is need for tremendous persistence—these are elements in -the industry of the farm; and one is sometimes appalled to think of what -would happen if those employed in that industry should go on strike! - -A recent and interesting development has taken place in the flowing of -the river of wheat for export. It is a far cry from the days when -special seed was brought by Consul Taylor in envelopes and sown in -garden plots on the Red River to these days when the plains are dotted -with vast farms all the way from the scene of those garden plots to the -Rocky Mountains and from the international boundary-line to the -Sub-Arctic. Now it is becoming evident that other outlets must be found -for the floodtide of wheat in addition to the old course eastward to -Fort William and beyond. It looks as if there will be somewhere on the -prairies, ere long, a new watershed, a sort of “Great-Divide” such as we -see in nature along the Canadian Pacific in the Mountains, where the -rivers begin to flow both east and west to different outlets on the way -to the lakes and the sea. After this manner also the rivers of wheat -will run to either ocean. - -A few days ago I was talking with that genial and experienced railway -man (now retired) Mr. E. A. James, in Vancouver. Mr. James when a lad -was the private telegraph operator for that master railroad builder, Van -Horne, and went with him on a trip to the West Coast when the end of -steel was not to its present terminus. Mr. James relates that one day -Mr. Van Horne, Mr. L. A. Hamilton, and himself, were standing on rocks -and stumps where Hastings and Granville Streets now intersect at the -Post Office, in the business heart of Vancouver. Mr. Van Horne took out -a piece of paper and sketched the location. Mr. James, a mere boy, had -nothing wherewith to purchase any rocks and stumps and ventured a rather -sceptical opinion as to the future of a city in such a locality. Mr. Van -Horne said, “My boy, there will be a very great city here. To this place -will come steel tracks carrying endless trains of passengers and -freight. And from this place, an all-the-year-round port, will sail -fleets of vessels engaged in trade all over the world.” - -Now, since the Panama Canal has been opened, it is evident that trains -of wheat will come to the Pacific in ever-growing number from some -economic watershed on the plains. Outlets, both East and West, will be -increasingly necessary to carry the produce of the vast prairie section -to the food markets of the world. For many years Fort William and -Montreal have struggled to handle the immense burden of this growing -wheat traffic. Now the Pacific route has come to relieve the abnormal -pressure on Eastern ports and lead to further developments in -agriculture on the prairies. And from Vancouver and other points on the -West Coast this wheat will go by vessels of all kinds to the ends of the -earth—to the over-crowded centres of Europe and Asia and Africa, as -well as to the islands of the sea. Thus shall the forecast made that day -on the site of Vancouver City by Mr. Van Horne, the builder of the -Canadian Pacific Railway, be justified, even though that forecast was -made at the rough-looking outpost of - - “A great new land, - Half-wakened by the wonder - And the prophetic thunder - Of triumphs yet untold.” - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII - Special Features - - -An alien traveller in this country, looking for an expression in which -to indicate the extent and character of the Canadian Pacific Railway, -finally settled on “The Dominion of Canada on wheels” as sufficiently -descriptive. This, of course, is overdoing it very considerably, but one -who passes through the length and breadth of the country and finds this -great organization ministering to his comfort and convenience at all -points on land and water, can be excused for his exaggeration. So -popular and universally known are the letters “C. P. R.” that there has -been a general popular tendency to use them without authority for -commercial advantage. Behind the letters there has come to be a -guarantee of value and efficiency which trades of various kinds have -been quick to see. The Company had to put a stop to this monographic -proclivity on the part of the public, lest the practice of some should -lower their reputation for efficiency. But Colonel George Ham tells us -of an attempt to stop the unauthorized use of the letters on a -barber-shop on the prairie, which ended in a truce. An Irishman who ran -what he called “The C. P. R. Barber Shop” received a note to desist from -the use of the famous letters. He replied, “I don’t want no lawsoot with -your big company. The letters on my shop don’t stand for your ralerode, -but for something better. I left a mother in Ireland. She is dead and -gawn, but her memories are dear to me. Her name was Christena Pearson -Riordon, and what I want to no is what you are going to do about it.” To -prosecute that man under the circumstances would be a sort of sacrilege, -and so the Company let it go, secretly doubting the witty story, but -rather pleased that the repute of the Company made it worth while to use -the letters and write the legend about their origin. - -Of course so far-flung a system as the Canadian Pacific must have many -places where the traveller shall find rest and refreshment with a -stop-over on the way. And so, amongst a few special features to be noted -in this closing chapter, are the palatial hotels in the big centres of -population, the chalets and bungalow camps in the mountains and by the -streams and lakes all across Canada. - -The names of some of these big hotels, which are not only stopping -places for the traveller, but social centres and community service club -meeting places in most localities, have an element of romance about -them. Several indicate the devoted loyalty of the Company to the -sovereigns of Britain, such as the Hotel Empress, of Victoria, the Royal -Alexandra of Winnipeg, in honour of the Queen, and the Queen-Mother, two -of the greatly beloved women of the Empire. The Hotel Vancouver, in the -city of that name, commemorates Captain George Vancouver, the -illustrious British sea-rover who sailed his wooden vessel into the -harbour one hundred and thirty-two years ago. In Calgary the Hotel -Palliser recalls the famous explorer of that name, who was sent years -ago to explore the mountains and report on the possibilities of a -railroad being built through to the Coast. He reported that a railway -could not be built across the continent on British soil. Years afterward -the Canadian Pacific proved that Palliser’s conclusion was incorrect. -Nevertheless the big Company recognized the greatness of the man, and -named the hotel under the shadow of the mountains after him. In those -mountains a chain of hotels and chalets and camps, at Banff, Lake -Louise, Emerald Lake, Glacier and Sicamous, supply accommodation amid -the cathedral mountain peaks where the scenery is conceded to surpass -anything of that type in the world. At the Atlantic gateway, in the -ancient fortress city of Quebec, stands the Chateau Frontenac, on the -site of the chateau of a Governor or Intendant in the old French regime. -The architecture of this hotel is of the seventeenth century, and so -magnificent are its proportions that as high as fourteen hundred guests -have sheltered under its roof at one time during the tourist season. Up -in Montreal the Place Viger Hotel stands at the heart of the historic -site of the ancient Montreal, a city that was old when our Western -cities had not been born. The Hotel Algonquin, down at St. -Andrews-by-the-sea, in New Brunswick, swings an Indian name into the -orbit of the fashionable tourist traffic of Canada and the United -States. Bungalow camps all through the mountains furnish for the -tourist, resting places at points so amazingly splendid from a scenic -standpoint that they summon annually hosts of tourists who wish to get -“near to nature’s heart,” and “far from the madding crowd’s ignoble -strife.” Thus has the pioneer Canadian transcontinental, built by -toilers who slept under the open sky or in the tent by the right of way, -erected palatial and romantic resting-places for travellers who desire -relief from the rush of modern business, or recreation, in the true -sense, after social dissipation of energy in the crowded haunts of -fashion. There was a time long ago when only the wealthy and the -“leisured” classes could travel and enjoy the quiet by the sea or the -majestic scenery of the mountains. But now, by availing themselves of -special rates in excursions, touring parties and such like, great crowds -of those who best appreciate the opportunity are found on trains making -their way to these tonic resorts. - -In this chapter on some special features on the Canadian Pacific, we are -claiming the liberty of swinging from one subject to another as they -come our way. And so we get back to the land and the foundational -occupation of tilling the soil. It has always been the policy of the -Company to encourage this fundamental industry and to help build up the -agricultural side of life on the great Western plains. This, of course, -in turn builds up the traffic without which railroads cannot operate -anywhere. To this end, apart from the ordinary means of securing -settlement and cultivation of land, Mr. Van Horne years ago started a -large farm at East Selkirk on the Red River, and the Company, in more -recent years, established the famous farm at Strathmore in the irrigated -region of Southern Alberta. With means for experiment at their call -beyond the reach of the ordinary farmer, the Company has set a higher -standard both in grain cultivation and stock, especially the latter. -Through sending their stock to exhibitions and in other ways the Company -sought to show to farmers the wisdom of eliminating “scrubs” of all -kinds, which cost as much to maintain, but produced less in every -particular. The other day I saw some beautiful photographs of stock now -at the Strathmore farm. They all held fine records and, standing in the -pasture beside the irrigation lake, were a joy to behold. - -This reference to irrigation leads us to a paragraph or so on the -remarkable work done by the Canadian Pacific in order to make the dry -spaces of Southern Alberta blossom like the rose. In years when rain is -plenteous the need of irrigation is not so apparent, but on the average -there are some areas of that southern portion decidedly dry, although -fertile if watered. In days far gone by, these areas were the _habitat_ -of the buffalo, and in later years ranchers held thousands of acres -under rental from the Government for great herds of cattle and droves of -horses. From buffalo to the tame species seemed a reasonable transition, -and, barring accidents or untimely weather in winter or summer, the -ranchers did business of great value to the country, and in most cases, -with reasonable management, made money. Then the Government decided that -these great spaces should be thrown open for homesteading, and the -wide-reaching range has given place to numerous farms over the same -area. This was well enough in wet years, but when the dry years came -crop failure stared the homesteader in the face. This led Colonel J. S. -Dennis, civil engineer and surveyor, who (like his father of the same -name and vocation) has been from early times intimately connected with -Western Canada in peace and war, to study the whole situation. There had -been some limited areas around Lethbridge irrigated by the old Galt -Company, and Colonel Dennis advised the Canadian Pacific to go into the -business on a large scale. It took a bold man to give that advice and a -determined man to carry it through, at a cost to the Company up to date -of the huge sum of sixty millions of dollars. Dennis knew that the Bow -River, fed by the eternal glaciers of the Rockies, was an inexhaustible -source of water supply if it could be properly harnessed for the task of -giving sufficient moisture to the dry spaces of the plain. And this was -what Colonel Dennis and his assistants proceeded to bring about by -turning the waters of the Bow River in directions where it would do most -good in making the wilderness rejoice. For centuries in the ancient -mythology of Greece and Rome the fable of Hercules, who cleansed the -stables of Augeas, the cattle-king, by turning a river through them, was -one of the wondrous tales of the world. That was fable and fiction, but -the irrigation plan inaugurated by Dennis in Southern Alberta is fact -and reality. It is the biggest irrigation movement on the continent, and -for pure romantic interest dwarfs the ancient tale of Hercules into -insignificance. - -The perfection of the engineering arrangements ensure the settler -against interruption of the water service and so against worry in regard -to his crops. He is sure of the sunshine and in the irrigation area he -is sure of the moisture. The Western section of this area has its centre -at Calgary, where, through concrete headgates, the water is admitted -from the Bow River as desired. A dam is also provided for very dry -seasons and at any time water can be sent seventeen miles into an -immense reservoir three miles long and two wide. Out of this reservoir -are three secondary canals having a total length of 254 miles. These -canals supply water to 1,329 miles of distributing ditches, and when the -Company brings the water to the highest point on the boundary of a man’s -farm, he can then have it run through his ground as he desires. - -To irrigate the Eastern section was a greater problem, but near the town -of Bassano the immense dam was built which raised the water of the Bow -forty feet above its usual level. This Bassano dam is a costly structure -with sluice gates operated by electricity. Then there are canals and -reservoirs, including the famous artificial Lake Newell, about -twenty-five square miles in extent and containing water enough to cover -185,000 acres of land one foot deep. There is in this same locality, -near the town of Brooks, the great concrete aqueduct over a depression -of the prairie. This huge water carrier is two miles long and, at -places, fifty feet above the ground. It is a unique and startlingly -modern sight from the train on the great plains where once the lordly -buffalo roamed in vast herds with earth-shaking tread. - -The results of all this enormous irrigation system are being slowly -worked out, and settlers who are intelligently availing themselves of it -are finding immensely increased production, especially in grain and root -crops, as well as particularly large yields in alfalfa and timothy hay. -The irrigated farm affords endless opportunity for cultivating all that -goes to make up a prosperous and variegated homestead. It will yet grow -to be a new and large factor in Western Canada. It has cost the railway -Company much, but will yield its returns to the honour and credit of the -men who made waters flow through vast dry areas and proved the truth of -the parabolic saying of the Scripture vision, “everything shall live -where the river cometh.” - - - - -[Illustration: - _Supply Farm at—Strathmore, Alberta_ - _The Brooks Aqueduct—_ - _The Bassano Dam_ - _Canadian Pacific Docks at Quebec_ - _Recent Developments_] - - - - -It is rather a far cry from the irrigated areas of Southern Alberta to -the more or less aristocratic residential hill at Vancouver city. But -both at least are alike in this, namely, that they exemplify special -ways of dealing with land. In the one case the land is a great prairie -section which we measure by miles, in the other it is a city section -which we measure by feet. The residential hill at Vancouver is -appropriately called Shaughnessy Heights after Lord Shaughnessy. -Properly speaking, Shaughnessy Heights is in the Municipality of Point -Grey, where the Canadian Pacific is the heaviest taxpayer. But the -residents on the Heights are leading business and professional men of -the city, and hence it is popularly, though not correctly, thought to be -part of it. The treasurer of Vancouver, with an eye on tax receipts, -would not object to its being in the city! - -Shaughnessy Heights at one time was intended by the Company to be a -separate municipality. But the way was not open, and the next best thing -was to make the area a sort of last word in town planning, and so secure -a good sale for the lots therein. The district is largely the result of -the foresight of Mr. Richard Marpole, who, as executive agent for the -Company, felt that unless something was done to clear the land and make -the district attractive for residences, the residential area would -settle in another direction and the “hill” would be left high and dry on -the Company’s hands. Mr. Marpole’s project for clearing and planning a -new residential section was not received with enthusiasm by the Board, -on account of the large expenditure involved. But he persisted and -finally got his way, to have the land cleared by a new process and a -town-planning movement inaugurated under the guidance of a specialist -from Europe. At present Shaughnessy Heights has an area of about a -thousand acres, though not all cleared, and the expenditure by the -Company in developing a residential district there has involved the neat -sum of two million dollars. - -The district was laid out not in rectangular blocks, but by roadways -following the contour of the ground, thus providing an easier grade and -giving to the maximum number of residents the best view possible of the -mountains and the sea. Both the type and the cost of residences and the -location as well as the architecture of all buildings, are subject to -the Company’s approval. If any intending residents feel restive under -these requirements, their feelings are mollified by the knowledge that -the Company not only aims at the best results for all who are intending -to build, but, in addition, makes liberal terms for the land and loans -money to build the houses. The aim of the Company is to prevent -uniformity and sameness in style of residences, and, as to street lines, -avoid the straightness which means monotony. By Provincial statute the -whole district is to be held till 1935 for residential purposes only, -except that provision is made for churches, schools, government -buildings and recreation grounds. Some seven hundred houses are already -erected on Shaughnessy Heights, and the locality is one of Vancouver’s -leading attractions to tourists owing to the fine class of buildings, -the wonderful flower gardens, and the rather labyrinthine character of -the streets. It is a beauty spot above the general level of the city, -and a desirable place of residence for those who can afford it. It is -presumed that those who cannot afford it will not try the impossible. -Mr. Newton Ker, assistant executive agent for the Company at Vancouver, -and formerly city engineer in Ottawa, is in charge of the Heights and -the further development that will be necessary as the city grows. He has -the combined qualities of an expert and an enthusiast in the work. - -And now we swing back to take another look at the ever-fascinating and -impressive track through the mountains, where we saw the last spike -driven at Craigellachie in 1885. It will be remembered that Mr. Van -Horne, during all those difficult months when it looked as if the -Company, owing to the unexpected and terrific cost of construction, was -facing financial disaster, refused to stop or even lessen the work. When -times were darkest he put on more men and made a bigger effort to get -ahead. As long as Stephen and his associates could raise any money and -Shaughnessy handle it to the best advantage, Van Horne turned a deaf ear -to all admonitions to slow up in construction operations. He said that -to do so would only bring creditors around them like a nest of hornets, -and that the road completed from ocean to ocean, or in steady course of -completion, would not only make appeal to financial men as something -worth investing in, but would soon do a carrying trade which would meet -the Company’s obligations. So he drove ahead and rested not till the -last spike was driven, as related. - -But no one knew better than the big railroader that there remained much -to be done. He had seen to it that the work was well done and the track -secure and safe for travel. The result of the swift completion was early -operation of the road, and justified Van Horne’s view by bringing in -revenue at once to meet obligations, and by putting the new railway -definitely on the map of the world as a worth while business enterprise. - -But the speed in construction made much temporary work necessary. Wooden -trestles were not permanent structures, and neither were wooden -snowsheds. Grades would require to be reduced in places to meet the -demands of growing traffic, and curvatures would have to be modified. -Hence engineers and contractors of the highest class have been -throughout the years engaged here and there in bringing the whole line -to greater perfection, with the result that the Canadian Pacific is -wonderfully free from danger or delay. The ordinary passenger through -the mountains is conscious that he is travelling amidst splendid scenery -on a solid road-bed, but only the practical builder and roadmaster can -estimate with what constant skill and care the road has been built up -and kept to such a high standard of excellence. But even the ordinary -passenger can appreciate things so plainly evident as tunnels, and on -the Canadian Pacific through the mountains he will find the most -interesting system of spiral tunnels in existence, and he will also -enjoy the novelty of speeding in comfort through the longest tunnel on -the continent. A word on these famous tunnels may fittingly find a place -in this chapter on special features. - -Previous to 1908 the grades between Hector and Field, in the mountains, -were difficult. For some three miles a grade prevailed which was ten -times the maximum grade permitted on heavy prairie work. This involved -much difficulty in operating, as it necessitated the use of extra -locomotives to pull the train up the grade and prevent it going too fast -on the way down. In fact these grades involved the use of spring -switches along that portion of the line for safety. Unless the -engine-driver of a descending train signalled to the switchman that his -train was under control, the setting of a safety-switch would divert the -train to a catch siding and so bring it to a stop. This system was -operated for twenty-four years without a single accident to a passenger -train. To say that is to magnify the trustworthiness of the men who -operated on the “Big Hill,” and who evidently lived up to the admonition -of the time cards on this division, which read “Obey the rules; be -watchful; run no risks.” - -But the increase of traffic as the years passed necessitated the -construction of the famous spiral tunnels through or under Cathedral -Mountain and Mount Ogden and the building of special bridges over the -river. Leaving technical points and figures aside, it may be sufficient -to say that trains entering these mountains climb or descend in a spiral -way with less than half the former engine power and with the utmost -degree of safety. In my observation it has been a constant delight to -passengers to watch how the train loops inside these mountains and comes -out at a different level from that which it entered. It is all so novel -and free from danger that travellers, enjoying the sensation, are loud -in their praise of the engineers and workmen who thought out and -constructed these remarkable spirals through the eternal hills, even -though it cost the Company over a million to make this change for the -pleasure and safety of their guests over the road. - -Still more notable as an engineering feat is the great Connaught Tunnel, -five miles long, between Glacier and Stony Creek. It is called after a -well-beloved Governor-General of Canada, the Duke of Connaught, son of -Queen Victoria, of immortal memory. This tunnel was built to avoid the -climb over the top of the famous old Rogers Pass, through a gorge -subject in winter and spring to snow-slides, against which the railway -was protected by four miles and a half of heavily built snowsheds. These -snowsheds were built of wood, and wood is not an everlasting material. -Occasionally sections of this long shed would be carried away and all of -it would show wear in the process of time. Taking this along with the -heavy grade, the Company concluded to tunnel through MacDonald Mountain -and solve all the problems at the same time. The construction of this -double-track tunnel, the longest on this continent, as noted above, was -begun in August, 1913. It took over two years “to make a hole through -the mountain,” but another year saw the tunnel open for regular traffic. -In addition to eliminating the snowsheds, which are not an infallible -protection, the tunnel shortens the distance across the Selkirk range by -over four miles, lowers the summit attained by the railway by 552 feet, -and reduces track curvatures by an amount corresponding to seven -complete circles. Perfect ventilation is attained by powerful fans and I -have passed through the Connaught Tunnel again and again with windows -open and experienced no inconvenience whatever. - -The work was done by contract by a noted builder of big -things—railways, canals, wharves, etc.—Mr. J. W. Stewart. Perhaps he -is better known to thousands as General “Jack” Stewart, who left his -business in Canada and served during the Great War as the builder in -France and Flanders of the light railways up to the battle front, which -had much to do with the victory of the allies. Stewart had a strenuous -time building the Connaught tunnel, Mr. George Bury, then Western -Vice-President of the Company, giving active co-operation and being -often on the ground. - -To recapitulate in some measure the significant things about this -tunnel, in which the world’s records for such work were several times -exceeded, one can say generally that the building of it is another -evidence that the Canadian Pacific Railway will not consider cost in its -efforts to eliminate grades, snow troubles or anything else which stands -in the way of the efficiency and safe operation of the road. Though the -tunnel was opened for traffic about seven years ago, the Company has -kept on making such improvements as preclude all danger from loosened -rock or such like. With that in view a large number of expert workmen -have been kept in the tunnel in regular shifts, and these men are now -completing the fine work of lining the whole tunnel, roof, sides and -all, with concrete, in such a way that nothing more can be thought of to -make the great “bore” through the MacDonald Mountain safe, secure and -scientifically sound. The original contract cost has thus been steadily -increased for some years, though the tunnel was safe for traffic when it -was opened, until it is probably within the limit to say that this great -engineering feat has cost the Company close to ten millions. Just what -some of the early critics of the cost of the Canadian Pacific, who -thought a bonus from the Government of twenty-five millions in addition -to a grant of land was excessive, would think of a case like this, must -be left to some one with vivid imagination to say. In this single -instance we find the Company, after expending an immense sum on crossing -through the Rogers Pass in early construction days, building then nearly -five miles of expensive snowsheds and having everything in running -order, abandoning the whole thing, and at a cost of nearly ten millions -more, going on to make their line more useful and more safe. No doubt -the early engineers in the 80’s saw that some such tunnel might be -possible, but the railway was then battling for life and could not spend -nearly half its total cash bonus on a space of five miles in a road that -would measure three thousand miles or so across Canada. - -There are other special features that might be noticed in connection -with the Canadian Pacific Railway, which has now a mileage of twenty -thousand miles of road and its house-flag on all the seas. With its one -hundred and twenty thousand employees, and a payroll expenditure of -nearly one hundred millions a year, it is a large factor in our modern -civilization. It has numberless auxiliary organizations, and has the -good habit of backing up industries that tend to build up the country. -We do not claim that its motives are entirely disinterested in thus -assisting other industries and undertakings, but its readiness to do so -indicates the truth of Lord Shaughnessy’s statement that what helps to -make Canada helps the Canadian Pacific, and _vice versa_. Present -conditions in this vast organization can be studied by actual -observation, and therefore do not come within the scope of this work, -which was begun mainly to keep alive the facts that should not be left -unrecorded in the history of Canada. - -And now, therefore, the agreeable task of preserving, in some humble and -imperfect way, the record of a great Canadian achievement is coming to -an end. It was not our intention to write in any detail of the -present-day operations of the world’s greatest transportation system as -a prosperous going concern. The Canadian Pacific Railway is an -outstanding factor in the life of the modern world. And one is sorry for -any one in the employ of this company who does not realize the -importance of having a share, however microscopic to one’s self, in the -affairs of an enterprise which belts the earth as a contributing element -in the onward march of the human family. There is still romance and -fascination in the countless activities of an organization with whose -continued prosperity is wrapped up the welfare of numberless homes and -uncounted legions of human beings. The contemplation of the future of -this world-encircling enterprise introduces us to a realm of mystic -adventure whose limits are undefined, because beyond the power of finite -intelligence to estimate. So we shall not essay what was beyond our -purpose from the beginning of this present writing. The purpose we had -in view was to prevent the older generation from a calamitous -forgetfulness of the things heroic and impressive they have witnessed in -connection with the building and operation of the pioneer steel trail -across Canada. And, even more specially, was it our purpose to transmit -to the coming generation some pen portraits of giant men whom they are -not to know in real life. One regrets the impossibility of placing on -these pages a full roll of honour on which is emblazoned not only all -those more or less conspicuously connected with the enterprise, but the -names of the unknown warriors who, in a great host, moved gallantly -forward in as brave a fight against obstacles as the world of industry -has ever known. Thousands of these men were under the stress and strain -of intense endeavour, or engaged in work where their lives were -constantly in danger. They not only went forward undismayed, but -solemnly handed on to others the task they could not themselves finish. -Like Sir Walter Scott’s wounded knight who, when carried dying from the -field, still heard the roar of the conflict and cheered his comrades on -to victory, these brave men did their part and encouraged others to -persevere. The task they accomplished in the making of Canada into a -great Confederacy of Provinces, linked indissolubly together as a noble -Dominion, must not be allowed to pass into oblivion. The coming -generation must not miss the tonic power that comes from a knowledge of -great achievement in a nation’s life. In ancient Egypt it was when men -arose who knew not what Joseph had done to give a new and great trend to -their history, that the land of the Pharaohs began a journey towards -decadence. Our hope is that this book and similar records of life in -Canada will help to put iron into the blood of the coming generations, -in order that this new land by their consecrated labours may shine with -ever-growing lustre in the firmament of human life and history. - - - - - THIS BOOK IS A - PRODUCTION OF - - Ryerson Press - - TORONTO, CANADA - - THE END - - TRANSCRIBER NOTES - - Misspelled words and printer errors have been corrected. 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