The line was opened to Uxbridge, September 14th, 1871, amid great rejoicing and enthusiasm and an oil painting from the brush of B. Armstrong, commemorating the scene, with the elaborate decorations of that thriving agricultural centre, was presented by the President, the late John Shedden, to William Gooderham, Junior, Vice-President and Managing Director of the Toronto & Nipissing Railway Company. The personnel of the prominent men of a past generation who were present at the turning of the first sod in 1869 at Toronto, as they appear in the accompanying photograph, is as follows:-- Reading from left to right-- EDMUND WRAGGE Chief Engineer. J. C. FITCH Merchant. GEORGE LAIDLAW General Merchant. JOSEPH GOULD Merchant and Farmer. HON. JOHN BEVERLEY ROBINSON Former Solicitor-General, Legislative Council, Province of Canada. ROBERT ELLIOTT Merchant. HON. JOHN SANDFIELD MACDONALD Premier of Ontario. JAMES E. SMITH Merchant. JOHN LEYS Barrister. HON. GEO. W. ALLAN Senator before Confederation. S. B. HARMAN Barrister, Mayor of Toronto. W. MCMASTER Merchant. R. BRETHOUR Farmer. JAMES GRAHAM Secretary of T. & N. Railway. AN OLD CAMPAIGNER’S CAREER [Illustration: JOHN QUIRK Wingham’s Veteran Conductor, Retired.] How many amongst you wide-a-wake and well-informed commercial men and transportation people, who read these lines, can explain where was and what became of the Erie & Niagara Railway, Canada. A gentleman born in 1833 at Lungar, Ireland, not a great distance from Ballykilbeg, known as John Quirk, Esq., Wingham, Ont., would, if interrogated, inform you that the railroad referred to originated at Lake Erie’s shore at Fort Erie, Ont., and terminated at historical old Niagara-on-the-Lake, where Lake Ontario’s blue waters lave the sloping shore.