Goodsell, C.P.A., U.P.R., gave a supper of clams and drawn
butter, periwinkles and toast, with good fellowship, to
fourteen railway guests at the Leader Lane Cafe, Toronto,
Ed. Sullivan, Proprietor.
1907--Tehauntepec Railway, 190 miles from Atlantic to Pacific
Oceans, constructed by British capital and partly
controlled by the Mexican Government, was this year opened
to traffic.
1908, Sept. 22–23--American Association of General Passenger and
Ticket Agents held their 53rd annual convention at Toronto.
1909, Nov. 30--At Queen’s Hotel, Toronto, W. R. Callaway, G.P.A.,
Soo Line, was tendered a luncheon by railway men and
personal friends equally represented. A. J. Taylor in the
chair.
1909--St. Valentine’s Day--The Rainy Day Club convened at the
King Edward Hotel and received William Shakespeare’s report
on the Merry Wives of Windsor.
1911, March 17--J. D. McDonald tendered a farewell banquet to
mark his promotion to position of A.G.P.A., G.T.R., Chicago.
1911, Sept.--Aerial post first attempted in Great Britain between
London and Windsor and proceeds devoted to public charity.
1911–12, April--Fat stock shows at Clinton, where some laundries
were purchased and addresses made on intensive cultivation
of the juniper bush by railroading honorary judges.
1911–12--$180,000,000 was total cost of Grand Central Station and
environs, built by the New York Central & Hudson River Ry.
1912, May 1--Richard Tinning completed fifty years with “G.T.R.”
in Canada and was given complimentary dinner, diamond pin
and purse.
1914, April 7--Cy. Warman, engineer, Denver reporter, publicist
and successful writer of railroading prose and verse--once
with “G.T.R.” advertising department--died in Chicago this
date.
1914, July 24--A century of locomotive use was appropriately
celebrated when a 410 ton “Centipede” engine of the Erie
Railroad pulled 250 loaded cars, weighing 21,000 tons, a
distance of 40 miles at 15 miles per hour.
HANDY ANDY
“Can you run an engine,” said the yardmaster to Martin Maguire?
“Can I run an engine,” sniffed the bold Hibernian; “there’s nothing
I’d rather do than run a lokeymootive all day long. Huh! Can Oi run an
engine?”
“Suppose you run that engine into the round house,” suggested his boss.
Bluffing Martin climbed into the cabin with his orders in his mind,
looked the ground over, spat on his hands, grabbed the largest
handle and gave it a mighty yank. Zip! away went the engine into the
roundhouse. Guessing the trouble ahead he reversed the lever clear
back. Out she went--in she went--and out again.
Then the chief yelled, “I thought you said you could run an engine?”
And Martin Maguire quickly replied, “Oi had her in three times, why
didn’t you shut the door?”
1915--$113,000,000 in taxes was paid by United States Railways.
1917, Oct. 17--The first train rolled over the new Quebec Bridge
and trans-continental link.
1917, March 17--The Alfalfa Club gathered and performed with
eclat. Owing to the date and name, somebody suggested that
the green tablecloth be used and many witticisms and bon
mots were exchanged.
1918--Grand Trunk Railway System, composed of about 125 lines,
that had early independent, statutory beginnings,
celebrates her 66th birthday.
1918, March--President T. Woodrow Wilson, U.S.A., signed the bill
which empowered Director General of Railroads, W. G. McAdoo
to assume complete control of the railways of the United
States.
1918, April--United States railroads “off the line” agencies in
Canada and in many “American” centres, withdrawn for the
period of the war.
1918, May 15--America’s first aeroplane mail service inaugurated
between Washington, Philadelphia and New York, President
Woodrow Wilson receiving the first letter from Governor
Charles S. Whitman, New York.
1918, August 18--Aero Club of Canada promoted through Royal Air
Force, first temporary weekly aerial mail between Leaside
Aerodrome (Toronto), to Ottawa.
The frontispiece photograph of passenger train is an early edition of
the Empire State Express, by courtesy of the N.Y.C. & H.R.R.
The Frontispiece lettering was executed by Harry Moyer, cartoonist of
Toronto Daily Star.
The Frontispiece conductor is Mr. D. J. Carson, former Chairman of the
Brotherhood of Railway Conductors, Toronto, a popular vocalist who is
widely known by patronizers of C.P.R. trains running between Toronto
and Hamilton, Ontario.
The pen and ink decoration for “Navigators of the Blue” is the work of
Miss Alberta L. Tory, daughter of Mr. Alfred Tory, Storekeeper, Grand
Trunk Railway, London, Ont.
The half-tone engravings used in this book, with a few exceptions, were
made by the British & Colonial Press, Limited, Toronto, Ont.
BALLAD TO THE BROTHERHOOD
Despite the rush of commerce and distractions linked to life,
Forgetting one brief moment all the noise and ceaseless strife:
Reflection’s voice reminds me that with ebbing tide of time,
Floats away a merry epoch--hear ye not the watch bells chime?
Dear friends and faithful colleagues on this strand and o’er the sea,
I recall your proffered kindness and your courtesy to me.
Memory serves to paint a picture shewing changes in the past:
’Tis well the Reaper’s scythe is stayed until the die is cast.
Though our day is dark and troubled by the ruthless hand of Might,
All trust the scourge will vanish like the mystic flight of night.
Let encouragement and counsel nourish hope and banish fear,
May the bonds of friendship strengthen and expand from year to year.
We’ve had, methinks, more happy times than sorrows in our lives,
To you, Messieurs a bumper--to your sweethearts, daughters, wives;
Here is hoping that prosperity and robust health be yours,
For you a peaceful future is the wish my heart conjures:
And when that silent Skipper with his phantom craft steals ’round,
May he steer us safely over to the Happy Hunting Ground.
[Illustration:
YOU EAT A
CHRISTIE
BISCUIT
YOU EAT
THE BEST
CHRISTIE, BROWN & CO.,
LIMITED
]
[Illustration:
THE QUEEN’S HOTEL
TORONTO, ONT.
400 ROOMS
120 of them _en suite_ with bath; long distance telephone in every
room; elegantly furnished throughout; cuisine and service of the
highest order of excellence. Pleasantly situated near the lake and
beautifully shaded; it is cool, quiet and homelike.
American and European Plans
McGAW & WINNETT, PROPRIETORS
]
[Illustration:
The High Class Hotel with
Moderate Rates
HOTEL BRESLIN
Broadway at 29th Street
NEW YORK
The New York Home
for Canadians
THE ONLY OPEN AIR CAFE
IN THE CITY
Restaurant Prices Most Moderate
]
[Illustration:
THE
DOMINION
BANK
ESTABLISHED 1871
Head Office - Toronto
Traveller’s Cheques and Letters
of Credit Issued at Favorable
Rates
C. A. BOGERT, General Manager
]
Transcriber’s Notes
Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a
predominant preference was found in the original book; otherwise they
were not changed.
Some simple typographical errors were corrected, but many
remain. Unbalanced quotation marks were remedied when the change was
obvious, and otherwise left unbalanced.
Illustrations in this eBook have been positioned between paragraphs
and outside quotations. In versions of this eBook that support
hyperlinks, the page references in the List of Illustrations lead to
the corresponding illustrations.
Page 95: Some of the dates regarding the Lake Manitoba Railway &
Canal Company were corrected in the original book, but still contain
inconsistencies.