GOLF, THE DIAMOND KING, AND A STEAM-BOAT SERVICE
Thought not a golfer myself, never having taken to the game in earnest,
or played on more than, perhaps, twenty occasions in my life, I may yet,
I think, in a humble way, venture to claim inclusion amongst the pioneers
of golf in Ireland, where until the year 1881 it was unknown. In the
autumn of that year the Right Honourable Thomas Sinclair, Dr. Collier, of
"British History" fame, and Mr. G. L. Baillie, a born golfer from
Scotland, all three keen on the game, set themselves in Belfast to the
task of establishing a golf club there. They succeeded well, and soon
the Belfast Golf Club, to which is now added the prefix _Royal_, was
opened. The ground selected for the links was the _Kinnegar_ at
Holywood, and on it the first match was played on St. Stephen's Day in
1881. That was the beginning of golf in Ireland. Mr. Baillie was the
Secretary of the Club till the end of 1887, when a strong desire to
extend the boundaries of the Royal game in the land of his adoption led
him to resign the position and cast around for pastures new. Portrush
attracted him, engaged his energies, and on the 12th May, 1888, a course,
which has since grown famous, was opened there. About this time I made
his acquaintance and suggested Newcastle, the beautiful terminus of the
County Down railway, as another likely place. On a well remembered day
in December, 1888, he accompanied me there, and together we explored the
ground, and finished up with one of those excellent dinners for which the
lessee of our refreshment rooms and his capable wife (Mr. and Mrs.
Lawrence) were famous, as many a golfer I am sure, recollects. Mr.
Baillie's practised eye saw at once the splendid possibilities of
Newcastle. Like myself, he was of an enthusiastic temperament, and we
both rejoiced. I remembered the shekels that flowed to the coffers of
the Glasgow and South-Western from the Prestwick and Troon Golf Courses
on their line, and visions of enrichment for my little railway rose
before me. Very soon I induced my directors to adopt the view that the
railway company must encourage and help the project. This done the
course was clear. They were not so sanguine as I, but they had not lived
in Scotland nor seen how the Royal game flourished there and how it had
brought prosperity to many a backward place. Mr. Baillie's energy, with
the company's co-operation to back it, were bound to succeed, and on the
23rd March, 1889, with all the pomp and ceremony suitable to the occasion
(including special trains, and a fine luncheon given by the Directors of
the Company) the Golf links at Newcastle, Co. Down, were formally opened
by the late Lord Annesley. From that time onward golf in Ireland
advanced by leaps and bounds. Including Newcastle, there were then in
the whole country, only six clubs and now they number one hundred and
sixty-eight! The County Down Railway Company's splendid hotel on the
links at Newcastle, with its 140 rooms, and built at a cost of 100,000
pounds, I look upon as the crowning glory of our golfing exploration on
that winter day in 1888. To construct such a hotel, at such a cost, was
a plucky venture for a railway possessing only 80 miles of line, but the
County Down was always a plucky company, and the Right Honourable Thomas
Andrews, its Chairman, to whom its inception and completion is chiefly
due, was a bold, adventurous and successful man.
Another experience somewhat removed from ordinary railway affairs that
helped to enliven the latter part of my time on the County Down, and
added variety to the work imposed by the Railway and Canal Traffic Act
and the revision of Rates and Charges, was a project in which I became
engaged connected with the Isle of Man.
Joseph Mylchreest was a Manxman, a rough diamond but a man of sterling
worth. He left home when young and worked first as a ship's carpenter.
An adventurous spirit led him to seek his fortune in various parts of the
world--in the goldfields of California and Australia and in the silver
mines of Peru and Chili. Later on he went to South Africa, where in the
diamond mines he met with great success and made a large fortune. His
property there he disposed of to Cecil Rhodes, and it now, I am told,
forms part of the De Beers Consolidated Company's assets. In the late
eighties he returned to his native island, settled at Peel, and became a
magnate there.
One afternoon early in the year 1889 two gentlemen from the Isle of Man
called upon me at my office. They were Mr. Mylchreest (the "_Diamond
King_") and a lawyer friend whose name I forget, but I remember they
informed me they were both members of the House of Keys. Mr. Mylchreest
was anxious to do something to develop the little port of Peel, his
native town, and a steamboat service between Peel and Belfast, Bangor or
Donaghadee, seemed to him and his friends a promising project. What did
the County Down think? Would either Bangor or Donaghadee be better than
Belfast? If so, would my company join in and to what extent? We had no
power to expend money in steamboat enterprise, but I assured them we
would do all we could to help in other ways, and that Bangor was the port
to select. My directors heartily approved and other interviews followed.
Once, I had hurriedly to go over to Peel to meet Mr. Mylchreest and his
lawyer, on a certain day, as some hitch had arisen, and by this time I
was desperately keen on getting the steamboat service started. The only
way of reaching Peel in time was by a collier steamer, belonging to the
East Downshire Coal Co., which plied between Dundrum on the Co. Down
coast, and Whitehaven; the manager of the company was my friend, and
would allow the steamer to drop me at Peel. It was a memorable crossing,
the weather was _bad_ and so was I. But my journey was successful, and
soon the Peel and North of Ireland Steamship Company, Limited, in which
the "_Diamond King_" was much the largest shareholder, was established,
and on the 26th June, 1889, the first voyage was made from Peel to
Bangor. It was a great event for the quiet little town of Peel. Mr.
Mylchreest had invited all his friends to the inaugural service, in
addition a good number of the public travelled, and the steamer arrived
at Bangor with nearly 300 passengers on board. On the return voyage from
Bangor to Peel the same evening the "_Diamond King_" gave a great dinner,
champagne and speeches freely flowed, and music and dancing enlivened the
proceedings. The service prospered for a time, but the traffic did not
reach expectations. Ultimately it was taken over by the Isle of Man
Steampacket Coy., and after a few years discontinued.
Little more remains to be told of my five and a-half years' sojourn in
the north of Ireland. They were pleasant and profitable years for mind
and body. With health improved, experience gained in _practical_ railway
work, knowledge acquired by personal contact with men of all sorts and
conditions, I felt strong and confident, ready for anything, and, like
Micawber, longed for something to turn up.
Early in October, 1890, Walter Bailey and I took our second Continental
holiday together. We re-visited Paris, but spent most of our three weeks
in a tour through Belgium, finishing up at Brussels. When we reached
London I received a letter from my friend, W. R. Gill, Secretary of
Bailey's railway, the Belfast and Northern Counties. It was to tell me
that the position of Manager of the Midland Great Western Railway of
Ireland had become vacant, and suggested that I should return home by way
of Dublin and call upon the chairman of the company, Sir Ralph Cusack, in
regard to the succession. Now something _had_ turned up, and Bailey
declared I was as good as appointed. At dinner that night we indulged in
a bottle of sparkling wine--in nothing meaner would my warm-hearted
friend drink success to the prospect that had so unexpectedly opened
before me.
The Midland Great Western was the third largest railway in Ireland, nor,
in the matter of length of line, was there very much between the three.
The Great Southern and Western consisted of 522 miles, the Great Northern
487, and the Midland Great Western 432, nearly seven times as long as the
County Down. No wonder I felt elated.
How it all came about was in this way. Skipworth, the London and North-
Western Manager in Ireland, was on very friendly terms with Sir Ralph
Cusack, and Sir Ralph had a high opinion of his judgment. He consulted
Skipworth about a manager and asked if he knew any railway man in
Ireland, not too old, who would do. Said Skipworth, "Tatlow of the
County Down. He has shown up remarkably well at the Clearing House over
this terrible Railway and Canal Traffic Act, and seems to know all about
it." And so I was appointed, and thus it was that the bit of work in
Glasgow, of which I have spoken more than once, brought me this
substantial promotion. My friend Gill not long before had left the
service of the Midland Great Western, where he was Assistant Secretary,
to become Secretary of the Belfast and Northern Counties Railway, and
when Sir Ralph wrote to him about me he valiantly backed up Skipworth's
fine recommendation. Skipworth was himself for several years manager of
the Midland Great Western. He gave up the post when he joined the London
and North-Western as their Irish Manager. It is good for a man to have
friends, and I have been fortunate throughout my life in possessing many.
In December, 1890, I left the County Down to enter upon my duties as
manager of the Midland Great Western. The County Down Directors, at
their Board meeting on the 16th of that month, passed a minute recording
their "high appreciation of the ability with which he" (my humble self)
"has discharged his duties as general manager," adding that "his uniform
courtesy, tact and judgment, added to his strict sense of honour, secured
him the confidence of the Board." Need I say that I was proud of this
testimonial, and as pleased as proud, because it went on to wish me
success in my new duties, where I would "have a wider field for the
exercise of my talents," and begged my "acceptance of a cheque as a mark
of regard." This was better than the _walking stick_ with which a
certain railway officer, who was not too popular with his staff, was, it
is said, presented by them, when he left for a bigger post on another
line.