W. Sutherland Taylor’s connection with railways commenced in 1868 when he was secretary of construction on the Toronto, Grey & Bruce road, and afterwards treasurer of that company. When the T., G. & B. was absorbed by the C.P.R. he became its treasurer and retired in 1908 when he was succeeded by another old-timer, Mr. H. E. Suckling, who is still actively and efficiently serving the company. Mr. Sutherland Taylor and I were old cronies, and we frequently used to indulge in reminiscences. One of his memories was that when a lad he was going down the Rhine and fell in with a very nice Danish family of father, mother and several children. To him they appeared to belong to that highly respectable class which consists of fairly well-to-do old families. He became intimate with them, and when a little later he met them again in Berlin their friendship was renewed and he was invited to lunch at their hotel. During the luncheon one of the boys, Master George, misbehaved himself and received a gentle cuff on the ear and was dismissed from the table. Years after Mr. Taylor discovered that the head of the friendly family had ascended the throne of Denmark and was none other than King Christian IX., and that of his youthful companions, the eldest daughter had been married to the Prince of Wales and had become Queen Alexandra of Britain, and her sister, Princess Dagmar was the Empress of Russia, and the others were afterwards King Frederick VIII., of Denmark and His Royal Highness Prince Wilhelm of Denmark, and George had occupied the throne of Greece, that Princess Lyra of Denmark had married the Duke of Cumberland, and Prince Vladimar of Denmark was wedded to Princess Marie of Orleans. Never before has a wandering young Canadian boy unconsciously got into so much of the white light which beateth about the throne.

Sir William Whyte came to the C.P.R. in its early days, and after filling several important positions in the east, went to Winnipeg, where he was Vice-President, in which position he exerted a wide influence throughout the west.

Then there was Robert Kerr, who as a boy was connected with the old Northern Railway of Toronto, and in 1884 entered the service of the C.P.R., with headquarters at Winnipeg and afterwards at Montreal, filling the position of passenger traffic manager. He was the son of Capt. Kerr, an old steamboat man of Toronto, who was in command of the favorite Maple Leaf, which plied on Lake Ontario, and with whom I sailed as a non-paying passenger many a time. Robert Kerr served with great distinction during the civil war, fighting for the North. Mr. James W. Leonard, who passed away in April, 1919, was another old-timer who is not forgotten. In his youth he was connected with the old Midland Railway of Canada, and afterwards with the Credit Valley, and in 1880, when it was absorbed by the C.P.R., he became a superintendent and afterwards general manager of the road. Mr. Charles Drinkwater was secretary of the railway in 1881, and in 1908 rose to be assistant to the president. In his youth Mr. Drinkwater was secretary to Sir John Macdonald, and gained an insight into parliamentary matters that were of great assistance to him and to the company in matters of legislation in Ottawa.

A. C. Henry, who succeeded Mr. Shaughnessy as purchasing agent, was with the company from its beginning, and died at a comparatively early age, and when he died there was general regret for he was highly esteemed.

One of the oldest employees of the company was Charles Spencer, who in 1864 was a conductor on the Brockville & Ottawa, and naturally was taken over by the C.P.R. when that road was purchased by the company. He was for years on the Montreal-Ottawa run, and was a great favourite with the travelling public. It was not until 1913 that he was pensioned, and he died at a ripe old age five years later. He was father of Charles and H. B. Spencer, two men who were closely connected with the C.P.R. Charlie became general superintendent and resigned in 1905 to accept a higher position in the Canadian Northern, and died some years ago, but Harry, who commenced work with the Canada Central (now C.P.R.) in 1870, as telegraph operator and assistant agent at Ottawa, is still on duty as superintendent in his native city. W. J. Singleton was another of the early workers, being agent at Ottawa, in 1882, and afterwards superintendent until 1909, passing away early in 1911.

E. J. Duchesney, who did wonderful work at the time of the Frank disaster; Molyneux St. John, of the publicity department, an accomplished writer, was assigned to become editor of the Winnipeg Free Press, and afterwards was appointed Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod at Ottawa.