Macdonald, Sir Donald Alexander, the oldest Major-General in the Canadian Army, upon whom fell the work of equipping the Canadian Forces during the continuance of the war of 1914, is now on the retired list. His responsibilities covered a wide field, embracing the clothing and equipment of all branches of the service, and in addition the housing, feeding, transport, of the mounted and postal services. Having served his country faithfully and with marked ability for fifty-four years, Major-General Sir Donald Alexander Macdonald, I.S.O., C.M.G., K.B., in January, 1918, retired from active service loaded with honours, decorations and distinctions, and carrying with him the high estimation of the Canadian people and of the Empire at large. The record of his devotion to duty and his ability to do those duties that fell to his lot will ever hold a prominent place in Canada’s military history. In 1863, Major-General Sir Donald Alexander Macdonald first became a member of the Canadian Militia when he joined the Rifle Company of Cornwall as Ensign. In 1865 he became Lieutenant of the 59th Regiment, and in 1866 Captain, in which capacity he served during the Fenian raids of 1866. In 1869 he became Adjutant, and in 1870 served in the Red River Expedition, and was awarded a medal and two clasps. In 1871 he became Major, and in 1877 was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel. Then came in 1885 the North-West Rebellion, in which he distinguished himself, and was awarded a medal. In 1900 he was promoted to Colonelcy, and, having for some time been Chief Superintendent of Military Stores, in 1903 was appointed Director-General of Ordnance for Canada, and received the honour of I.S.O. In 1904 he was appointed Quartermaster-General of the Canadian Militia. In 1908 he was promoted to Brigadier-General, and in that year received his C.M.G., for his services in equipping the South African Contingent. In 1912 he was made a Major-General, and in January, 1918, was knighted by His Majesty King George V. In addition to the other distinctions that were accorded him, Sir D. A. Macdonald holds the Long Service Decoration and the honour of being the third military member of the Militia Council. Major-General Sir Donald Alexander Macdonald is the son of the late Alexander Eugene Macdonald, Deputy Clerk of the Crown and Registrar of the Surrogate Court of Cornwall, Ontario, and was born October 31, 1845, in Cornwall, and educated at the County High School. In 1876 he married Mary, the second daughter of Hon. Justice Hugh Richardson, formerly of the Superior and Supreme Court of the Canadian North-West Territories. He has one daughter, the wife of Lt.-Colonel C. L. Panet, Secretary of the Department of Militia and Defence. He resides at the Chateau Laurier, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Davidson, William McCartney, M.P.P. (of Calgary), is one of the leading editors and public men of Alberta. He was born at Hillier, Prince Edward County, Ontario, on November 12, 1872, the son of James C. Davidson, a farmer, and Sarah McCartney Davidson, and was educated at the public school of his district, Picton High School, St. Catharines Collegiate Institute, and the University of Toronto. From the latter institution he graduated in June, 1893, with the degree of B.A., and decided to enter newspaper work. His first experience was as a reporter on the staff of the Toronto “World” under W. F. Maclean, M.P. A year later he was invited to join the staff of the Toronto “Star,” then in the early stages of its career, and shortly afterward became its representative in the press gallery of the Ontario Legislature. Mr. Davidson showed a grasp of public issues beyond the ordinary, and during the seven years he remained with the “Star” made its legislative reports a definite feature of the newspaper. In 1901 the Canadian West was just on the verge of the tremendous development which has marked the first two decades of this century, and Mr. Davidson resolved to try his fortunes there. In 1902 he established himself at Calgary, then a town of about 3,000 inhabitants, and founded the “Morning Albertan.” From comparatively humble beginnings it has developed into one of the most widely known newspapers in Canada. Throughout its career Mr. Davidson has retained the position of editor-in-chief and proprietor. He soon became prominently identified with the Liberal party in the province, and at the Alberta general elections of 1917 was elected to the Legislature for the riding of North Calgary. Few members of that body have as deep a knowledge of public questions and of parliamentary procedure. Mr. Davidson has travelled extensively, and one of his favorite pastimes is mountain-climbing. He is a member of St. Andrews Golf Club, of the A.F. & A.M., and the I.O.F. He is a Senator of the University of Alberta, and a Presbyterian in religion. He has been twice married: first, on June 6, 1899, to Christiana Constance Robertson, daughter of Rev. James Robertson, D.D., of Toronto, Superintendent of Missions for the Presbyterian Church of Canada. She died in March, 1904, and on September 10, 1913, Mr. Davidson married Ethel M. Heydon, daughter of George Heydon, of Yarmouth Centre, Ontario. He has three children, James R., William M., and Marian C. R. Davidson.
Parent, Hon. Simon Napoleon, K.C., who was Chairman of the National Transcontinental Railway Commission from 1905 to 1911, is the son of Simon Polycarpe and Luce (Belanger) Parent, of Beauport, Quebec, and was born there September 12, 1855. His education was had at the Quebec Normal School and Laval University, and between 1881 and 1902 he was awarded the following degrees and honours: Laval University, LL.L., with Lorne Gold Medal and Tessier Prize, 1881; LL.D., 1902; D.C.L. (Hon.), Bishop’s College University, Lennoxville, 1902. In 1881 Mr. Parent was called to the Bar, and was created K.C. in 1899. In October, 1877, he married Marie Louise Clara, daughter of the late Ambroise Gendron. Four sons and four daughters have blessed the union. At present Mr. Parent is President of the Quebec Streams Commission for the Province of Quebec. When admitted to the Bar, Mr. Parent successfully practised his profession in the city of Quebec, and from the start was looked upon as a practical man and a good and reliable lawyer. He served as an alderman in the Quebec City Council from 1890 to 1904, and was Mayor of the city from 1894 to 1905, during which time he built the new City Hall. Largely through his perseverance and energetic work, the splendid Quebec Bridge was built, and it was he who originated the park at St. Roch, between St. Roch and St. Sauveur. Quebec city streets were improved and the finances of the city placed on a better footing. Mr. Parent sat in the local legislature for St. Sauveur in the Liberal interest from 1890 to 1905, and served in the Marchand administration as Commissioner of Crown Lands, Mines and Forests from 1897 to 1900. On Mr. Marchand’s death in the latter year, Mr. Parent was called upon to succeed him as Prime Minister of the Province, and held that position up to 1905, when he resigned at the request of the Right Hon. Sir Wilfrid Laurier to accept the position of Chairman of the National Transcontinental Railway Commission, with headquarters at Ottawa, which Commission had charge and control of the construction of the Eastern Division of the Transcontinental Railway, extending from the city of Moncton, N.B., in the east to the city of Winnipeg, Manitoba, in the west, and the operation thereof until completed and leased to the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway Company. Mr. Parent was President of the Quebec Bridge Company from 1897 to 1908, was formerly a director of the Quebec Railway, Light and Power Company and the Quebec and Lake St. John Railway. During his whole public career, Mr. Parent has held the reputation for being an honest and able man; as one of the most industrious administrators of modern times; as a man of decision, business and legal ability, and rare enterprise in public matters; unassuming, courteous, and practical. A Roman Catholic in religion, Mr. Parent has ever been a staunch Liberal, and one of the late Sir Wilfrid Laurier’s best and most influential supporters. He is a member of the Rideau, Laurentian, and Ottawa Hunt Clubs in Ottawa, and of the Garrison Club, Quebec. His Ottawa residence is at 485 King Edward Avenue.
Rutherford, John Gunion, C.M.G., V.S., Ottawa, Honorary Associate of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, Commissioner, Board of Railway Commissioners for Canada (Ottawa, Ont.) born at Mountain Cross, Peeblesshire, Scotland, on December 25, 1857, son of Rev. Robert Rutherford, M.A., and his wife Agnes Gunion. In 1887, he married Edith, daughter of Washington Boultbee, of Ancaster, Ont., by whom he has three daughters. He was educated at the High School of Glasgow, and later spent several years in the practical study of agriculture in the counties of East Lothian and Selkirk. Coming to Canada at the age of seventeen, he attended the Ontario Agricultural College in 1875 and 1876, being one of the earliest students at that institution, and later gained valuable practical experience in agriculture on the famous Bow Park Farm at Brantford, Ontario. In 1879 he graduated from the Ontario Veterinary College with honors, winning the gold medal for the best general examination, and numerous other prizes. He practised veterinary medicine for several years in Ontario, the United States and Mexico, and returning to Canada in 1884, settled at Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, where he engaged in general practice and horse breeding operations. He served as Veterinary Officer with the North-West Field Force under General Middleton during the Riel rebellion in 1885, and holds medal and clasp for that campaign. During his residence in Portage la Prairie he was for several years President of the Horse Breeders’ Association of Manitoba and the North-West Territories; President of the Manitoba Veterinary Association; President of the Manitoba and Lakeside Agricultural Society; the Island Park Racing Association, and the St. Andrew’s Society of Portage la Prairie. In 1884 he was appointed Veterinary Inspector for the Manitoba Government, an appointment which he held until 1892, when he was elected to represent the constituency of Lakeside (Portage Plains) in the Manitoba Legislature, in which body he was Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture. He was re-elected by acclamation in 1896, but after one session resigned to enter Dominion politics as representative for the constituency of Macdonald, which then comprised over one-sixth of the province of Manitoba. He sat as member for this constituency in the Dominion House until 1900, and in 1901 went to Great Britain as special Quarantine Officer for the Canadian Department of Agriculture. In 1902, he was appointed Chief Veterinary Inspector, and in 1904, after organizing the Health of Animals Branch, he became Veterinary Director-General. In 1906, he also took over the office of Live Stock Commissioner, and in the same and the succeeding year organized the present Meat and Canned Foods Inspection Service. During his tenure of office many original and radical departures were made in connection with the control and eradication of contagious diseases among the live stock of the Dominion, the results achieved being eminently satisfactory. Under his direction, the work of the Live Stock Branch was very considerably extended, and brought into close correlation with that of the Health of Animals Branch, joint supervision over the work of both branches being in a number of cases exercised by the same officers, especially in those provinces farthest from Ottawa. In 1908, he went twice to Rome as delegate for Canada to the International Institute of Agriculture, and in the same year was appointed to represent the Dominion at the International Congress on Tuberculosis at Washington, D.C. He was President of the American Veterinary Medical Association in 1908-09, and Chairman since its inception of the International Commission on the Control of Bovine Tuberculosis. He was for several years President of the St. Andrews Society of Ottawa, and from 1909 to 1911 President of the Civil Service Association of Canada. He was created a C.M.G. in 1910. In May, 1911, he resigned from the Dominion service, but at the request of the Government retained office until March, 1912. Immediately thereafter, he was engaged by Lord Shaughnessy, then President of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, to undertake a campaign for the general development of the live stock industry and the encouragement of mixed farming in the three prairie provinces. In the organization of the campaign he found it advisable to co-ordinate this special work with that of the Company’s Department of Natural Resources at Calgary, Alberta, and in the following spring (1913) he was appointed Superintendent of Agriculture and Animal Industry, a position involving full responsibility for all the agricultural operations of the Company, including the educational and experimental activities in connection with its irrigation projects in Alberta. From 1913 to 1919, he was President of the Western Canada Live Stock Union, an organization in the creation of which he was largely instrumental, and which comprises in its membership all live stock associations and other bodies interested in the production of live stock in the four Western Provinces. In December, 1918, his portrait in oils was added by the live stock men of Canada to the collection of similar pictures of live stock celebrities in the Saddle and Sirloin Club of Chicago. He was a member of the Dominion Economic and Development Commission, as also a member of the Saskatchewan Royal Live Stock Commission, and has since its inception been Chairman of the Joint Committee on Commerce and Agriculture. While resident in Alberta he was Vice-Chairman of the Provincial Board of Agricultural Education, as also President of the Alberta Thoroughbred Horse Breeders’ Association, besides holding office in numerous other live stock and kindred organizations. He has had exceptional opportunities of acquiring a practical knowledge of Canadian agriculture, having actually farmed, more or less extensively, in every province of the Dominion except Prince Edward Island, his own farm being situated in the Chilliwack Valley in British Columbia. He was appointed to the Board of Railway Commissioners for Canada in November, 1918, and assumed office in February, 1919. Dr. Rutherford is a member of the following clubs: Ranchmen’s (Calgary), Rideau (Ottawa), University Club (Ottawa), Royal Ottawa Golf Club (Ottawa), and his home address is 218 MacLaren Street, Ottawa, Ont.