Prominent Passenger Men.
In the passenger department are such indefatigable workers as Charlie Ussher, who since 1886 has been in the fold. From a comparatively minor position he has steadily risen until now he is passenger traffic manager, and also has charge of the chain of hotels of the entire system, and spends the rest of his time either in his office or on the train. Charlie McPherson, whom his friends call Cluny, came to the C.P.R. from the Rock Island in 1886, and has been stationed at Montreal, Boston, St. John, Toronto, and is now at Winnipeg, where he is assistant passenger traffic manager. He is a Chatham, Ontario, boy, but wandered into foreign fields at an early age. Then there is Charlie Foster, assistant passenger traffic manager at Montreal. When I first met him in 1891 he was a junior clerk at St. John, N.B. He has during those thirty intervening years risen from the ranks, and he is one of that kind of fellows whose future is not behind him.
Others who have risen from the ranks are W. H. Snell and Col. Walter Maughan, of Montreal; Harry Brodie, of Vancouver; Geo. Walton, of Winnipeg; W. B. Howard, and N. R. DesBrisay, of St. John, N.B.; Dave Kennedy, of every place; Dan Steele, high muck-a-muck at Sherbrooke; Billy Fulton at Toronto; Billy Grant an old timer of the old timers at Hamilton; George McGlade, of Brockville; “Burroughs, of Belleville;” Billy McIlroy, now stationed at Detroit; J. B. Way, at the Canadian Soo; Joe Carter at Nelson; Charlie Philps, of St. John, N.B.; and the company’s representatives in the United States—Fred Perry in New York; Tommy Wall at Chicago; E. L. Sheehan, at St. Louis; Mike Malone, at Cincinnati; A. A. Polhamus at Los Angeles; Fred Nason at San Francisco; Teddy Chesbrough at Atlanta, A. G. Albertson, at Minneapolis, L. R. Hart at Boston, G. B. Burpee at Cleveland, R. C. Clayton at Philadelphia, Clarence Williams at Pittsburg, B. E. Smeed at St. Paul, Fred Sturdee at Seattle, D. C. O’Keefe at Tacoma, E. L. Cardie at Spokane, C. E. Phelps at Washington, and George Walton at Buffalo, all of whom have been with the company for years and upheld the interests of the C.P.R. in the land of the Stars and Stripes.
Geo. C. Wells, whose word is always accepted in railway conferences, began as a clerk in the passenger department in Montreal in ’92, and now he is still at work as assistant to the passenger traffic manager.
George Hodge came into the vineyard in 1890 as a clerk in the passenger department, and steadily rose officially until now he is assistant to the vice-president. Fred Hopkins came to work earlier than George—in ’82—in the passenger department and rose to be assistant general passenger agent. Emile Hebert’s connection with the company dates away back in the ’80’s. To him is assigned the duty of looking after French-Canadian patrons, and he does it so successfully that many of his compatriots imagine that he is the president of the C.P.R. and believe that Ambroise Lalonde, another veteran, is general manager.
Good old Alexander Calder, of Winnipeg, has been associated with the company ever since its birth, and is still doing business at the same old stand. His son Arthur has been with the company for very many years, and now fills a position on the executive staff.
Charles Buell is of the ’95 product, and after a quarter of a century’s service is now staff registrar and secretary of the pension department. “They” say that Charlie knows the age, sex and previous condition of servitude of every blessed one of the 100,000 employes of the C.P.R.
Billy Dockrill, Harry Ibbotson, Jimmy McKenna, and Walter Brett are veteran travelling passenger agents still on deck. R. J. Smith, for years with the company, is now chief ticket agent at Montreal; Fred C. Lydon, who came as a boy, is city ticket agent at Montreal. Geo. Beer and Billy Corbett are well known figures in the Toronto office. Billy Jackson, outside ticket agent at Clinton, is said to be the oldest ticket agent in Canada. W. H. C. Mackay, St. John, N.B., and Jerry Chipman, Halifax, and Arthur Shaw, of Montreal, have been with the company for goodness knows how long. Tom Riddell has been in the claims department since a boy, and is still there.
The present chief engineer, John M. Fairbairn, started in 1892 as topographer on the Soo Road, and quickly rose in position until in 1918 he reached the top of the department. P. B. Motley came as a draughtsman in the same department in the same year, and is now engineer of bridges. And of the others—their name is legion, Angus McMurchy, of Toronto, is perhaps the oldest solicitor of the company, and is still in harness.
H. W. Sweeney was an office boy in the treasurer’s department in ’86, and after being clerk, cashier, paymaster he was appointed local treasurer at Winnipeg in 1908, and still fills that position most efficiently.
Billy Cooper, who is now the head of the sleeping car department, commenced work as a clerk in the general superintendent’s office in Montreal in ’91. He has able assistants in the other old-timers, Bert Mathews, of Winnipeg, and Frank Tingley, of Vancouver, Sid Wertheim, of Toronto, and Jimmy Downs, of Montreal, who can get more lower berths for passengers than any other person—and these are all veterans.
E. N. Bender entered railway work in 1880 as secretary to the general storekeeper of the Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa and Occidental Railway, now a part of the C.P.R. system. In 1902 he succeeded A. C. Henry as general purchasing agent, and has with him a capable staff, many of whom are old-timers.
James Manson (Jim) began railroading with C.P.R. in 1882, then rose to be superintendent, and after experience in Winnipeg and Toronto was transferred to Montreal, where he is assistant to Vice-President Grant Hall. His duties are manifold, and as varied, and he is a fixture for life in smoothing over the rough edges of his fellow-workers.
Harry Oswald is an old-timer, dating away back, and from a subordinate position is now assistant secretary, and secretary of no fewer than eighty-one subsidiary companies.
Teddy Moore came when he was in the bloom of youth which he still retains, and has charge of the insurance of the company which reaches up to the millions.
George Jackson, after many years of service, is now auditor of claims, and Allyn Seymour rose from a minor position to be general tourist agent.