David McNicoll of the Old Guard.
Amongst the old guard of the C.P.R. the name of David McNicoll will long be remembered. He was with the company almost since its inception, joining the staff in 1883. He had previous railway experience in Scotland and in Canada, to which country he came when a young man, and when he joined the C.P.R., at the age of thirty-one years, his energy and ambition found the vent they could not find in the positions he had previously occupied. Passenger agent, passenger traffic manager, assistant general manager, vice-president and general manager, he graduated from the comparatively humble position to that in which he exerted plenary authority, and always to the advantage of the company.
His judgment was sound, his observation keen, his knowledge of the C.P.R. in all its ramifications remarkable; his perspicacity notable. Close to his desk was a series of maps. These he studied by the hour when a policy of expansion was to be decided upon. He knew every bit of rail on the system; he made the west his familiar companion; he was wedded to the great corporation to which he gave his best powers. A tireless worker, he never spared himself, and mastered even the minutest detail in all his labors, and it was this constant attention to his duties that broke his health. While generous to a fault, he had full possession of the proverbial Scotch thrift, so that no one was surprised when it was told of him that in a certain office there were five clerks and only four desks, and another desk was required, he wanted to know if it wouldn’t be better to fire the extra clerk instead of buying a new desk. He had also Scotch reliance and determination, and was a hard man to bluff.
A bank manager, with a real or fancied grievance, angrily bounced into his office one day and threatened that if a certain thing wasn’t done and done P.D.Q., he would give orders that not a single passenger or pound of freight, or express parcel or telegraph message would be given to the C.P.R.
“Well, sir,” replied Mr. McNicoll, “Just let me know when you issue that order, will you, and I’ll issue an order to all C.P.R. agents to refuse the bills of your confounded old bank.”
The bank manager discreetly pulled in his horns.
Mr. McNicoll was one of the builders of the C.P.R., and he should be accorded a fair measure of the glory which attaches to those who helped to bring the company up to its present proud position.