Reminiscences of a Raconteur, Between the '40s and the '20sHam, George H. (George Henry)
History
Reminiscences of a Raconteur, Between the '40s and the '20s
Ham, George H. (George Henry)
Canada; Ham, George H. (George Henry), 1847-1926; Journalists -- Canada -- Biography
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.
Others Gone But Still Remembered.
P. A. Peterson was chief engineer in 1881, with John Canadian as chief
clerk, who composed nearly the whole staff, and in 1903 was consulting
engineer, and left the service the same year. The names of Major Rogers,
who found the Rogers Pass, General Rosser, who was the last Southern
officer to accept the inevitable, J. S. Schwitzer and A. B. Stickney,
who was chief engineer in the West in the early days, are still
remembered, although they have been laid at rest for many years. E. V.
Skinner, who represented the company in New York city from 1887 to 1908,
was a very prominent figure, and Horace Colvin, who was the company’s
representative in Boston from 1887 to 1903, has also passed away.
Another prominent figure was Archer Baker, who was an accountant on the
Brockville & Ottawa road in 1870, and after several promotions was
stationed at London, England, and was European manager of the company
until his death in 1910. Alex Notman was a well-known figure and
represented the company at several points. He was best known in Toronto,
and when he died the company lost an energetic official. Then there were
A. R. G. Heward, who was with President Van Horne for many years; Fred
Tiffin, who was the company’s first freight agent at Toronto, and
resigned to join the I.C.R. forces, he being succeeded by J. N.
Sutherland, who has also passed away. The memory of J. Francis Lee, of
Chicago; Con Sheehy, of Detroit; and Tom Harvey, of the Soo, Michigan,
all of whom have gone to their last rest will not soon be forgotten,
neither will Fred Gauthier, of Winnipeg, who, commencing as a freight
clerk in ’82, became assistant purchasing agent in 1900, and died in
1919. Albert Dana was another one who commenced as general storekeeper
in Montreal in 1881, and in ’86 entered the purchasing department in
which he reached a high position and died recently. Jack Taylor came
from a family of railway men, and began work as a train despatcher in
Ottawa in 1878. In 1911 he was made general superintendent on several
western divisions. General Superintendent R. R. Jameson, John Niblock
and J. A. McLellan are gone.
Medical Staff.
Dr. Girdwood was the first chief surgeon and retired in 1902. Among the
medical men on his staff scattered along the lines of the C.P.R. were
Dr. Pringle, who for many years did excellent service on the north shore
of Lake Superior, and Dr. McKid, of Calgary; Dr. Orton, M.P., and Dr.
Brett, now Lieutenant-Governor of Alberta, and still in the land of the
living, and Dr. Kerr, who afterwards was a prominent physician in
Washington, D.C.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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