Helmer, Brigadier-General Richard Alexis, C.M.G., entered the Canadian Militia in 1883 as a private in the ranks of the 43rd Regiment, D.C.O.R. Eight years later he was made a Lieutenant, and in 1896 was appointed Captain. In 1899, he was promoted to the rank of Major. In 1885, General Helmer graduated as a chemist for the Province of Ontario, and in 1886 for the Province of Quebec. He successfully practised his profession in Hull, Quebec, up to 1904, when he retired therefrom. He was energetic, popular, and progressive, and for twelve years was alderman and twice mayor (1896 and 1900) of the city of Hull. April 27, 1906, be was appointed Deputy Assistant-Adjutant-General for Musketry on the Headquarters Staff, and Assistant Adjutant-General for Musketry, October 1, 1908, which post he held until May 17, 1910, when he was appointed a Lieutenant-Colonel and Assistant-Adjutant-General. On January 1, 1911, he was appointed Director of Musketry, and February 24, 1916, Director-General of Musketry. This latter post he still holds, together with that of Acting-Director of Military Training, to which he was appointed September, 1914, and that of Commandant of the Canadian School of Musketry, to which he was appointed in 1907. General Helmer has for years been prominent in rifle shooting in Canada, and has many fine trophies to prove his skill. In 1899, he was Adjutant of the Canadian Rifle Team at Bisley. In 1903, Adjutant of the Canadian Palma Team at Sea Girt. In 1907, Adjutant of the Canadian Palma Team at Ottawa, and in 1912, Commandant of the Canadian Palma Team at Camp Perry. General Helmer is the eldest son of the late Nathaniel and Melissa (Johnson) Helmer, of Ottawa. He was born in Russell, Ontario, October 12, 1864, and was educated at Ottawa and Toronto, Ontario. He married Elizabeth I. Hannum, of Hull, Quebec. Their only child and son, Lieutenant A. H. Helmer, Canadian Artillery, was killed in action, May 2, 1915. General Helmer is in possession of the Colonial Auxiliary Forces long service medal, and for services rendered in the great war was awarded the C.M.G. in 1918. He is a member of the Laurentian Club, and resides at 122 Gilmour St., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
McCurdy, Fleming Blanchard, M.P. (Halifax, N.S.), Financier, began business in the service of the Halifax Banking Company, Truro, N.S., in 1890, which he left in 1901 to embark in financial business under the firm name of F. B. McCurdy & Company, which has seven branch offices at the present time. He is a Past President of the Halifax Board of Trade, was elected to the House of Commons in 1911, and was appointed Parliamentary Secretary of the Department of Militia and Defence, July, 1916. His recreations are fishing, hunting, and motoring. Among his clubs are the Halifax City; Wanderers A.A.C., of which he is an ex-President; Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron; Halifax Golf; Halifax Automobile Association (ex-President); St. James, Montreal; Royal Automobile, London, Eng.; Rideau, Ottawa; and Royal Ottawa Golf Club. Mr. McCurdy was born at Old Barns, County Colchester, N.S., February 17, 1875, the son of James and Amelia J. (Archibald) McCurdy, and was educated in the public schools. In 1902 he married Florence Bridgman Pearson, daughter of the Hon. B. F. Pearson, M.P.P., Halifax, and has two sons. Mr. McCurdy is a Conservative and a Presbyterian.
Langton, Brigadier-General Joseph Graham, Paymaster-General of the Militia Department, Ottawa, is the son of Thomas Langton, a merchant, and Fannie McKim Langton, and was born at Toronto, October 14, 1868, where he received his education in the public schools and the Jarvis Street Collegiate Institute. He has had an extensive military career, and has served continuously in the active militia of Canada since 1886. He joined the Queen’s Own Rifles in May, 1886, and served continuously until December, 1896. He served for two and a half years as regimental drill instructor, and in 1895 organized the Queen’s Own Rifle Cyclist section. In 1897, he received a commission as Lieutenant in the 20th Lorne Rifles, was promoted as Captain in 1898, and held appointment as Adjutant until 1903. He was selected by Militia Headquarters to organize No. 2 Company Canadian Army Service Corps, and in 1903 at Niagara Camp commanded the first Army Service Corps unit to go under canvas in Canada. In June, 1905, he was appointed Senior Army Service Corps Officer, Western Ontario Command, on the Staff of Brigadier-General W. D. Otter, C.B., and held that appointment until June, 1911, when the tenure of appointment expired. In 1898, he instituted the first regimental system of messing at the Canadian Militia Training Camps at Niagara Camp. At the Tercentenary Celebration at Quebec, July, 1908, he was appointed as Deputy-Assistant-Quarter-Master-General, and had charge of the railway transportation of troops. A field order issued by the late Lord Roberts conveyed the congratulations of the present King, then the Prince of Wales, to the late Sir Frederick Borden on the success of the transport arrangements. General Langton instituted the first use of mechanical transport by the Canadian Militia at the Fall manœuvres at Toronto in October, 1910. He was appointed railway transport officer for mobilization of the first Canadian contingent at Valcartier in August, 1914, and in co-operation with Sir William Price had charge of the embarkation of the first contingent at Quebec in September of the same year. In December, 1915, he was appointed Inspector of Supplies and Transport for the Second Divisional Area, and by Order-in-Council, February, 1916, he was attached to the Staff of the Inspector-General and appointed as Chief Supply Inspector for Eastern Canada. In the following June he was appointed as Deputy Inspector-General. February 8, 1918, he was appointed as Paymaster-General and as a member of the Militia Council. As Deputy Inspector-General, General Langton had supervision over receipts, supplies, stores, clothing, accounting, regimental funds, mess accounts, and canteen funds. In the matter of canteens, General Langton is recognized as the leading authority in Canada on their administration. The booklet of rules for the management of canteens, regimental funds, etc., issued by the Militia Department as a text-book for the troops, was prepared by him. The branch under his administration effected a saving during the war of over one million dollars without depriving the troops of anything to which they were entitled. In his capacity as Paymaster-General he has entire charge of the finances—separations allowance and assigned pay branch of the Militia Department, etc. General Langton is Vice-President of the Military Service Department of the Young Men’s Christian Association. This department was first attached to the Canadian Military Camps at Valcartier in August, 1914, by General Sir Sam Hughes on the recommendation of General Langton. In recognition of his services General Langton has been recommended for distinguished services in Canada. Until he entered upon his duties as Deputy Inspector-General, General Langton has been engaged in banking and other financial pursuits. General Joseph Graham Langton, on Oct. 7, 1891, married Margaret J., daughter of John Pearey, contractor, of Toronto. Five children have blessed the union: Percy (deceased), Ernest Pearey (deceased), Olive V., Joseph McKim, and Florence Margaret. General Langton is a member of the Rideau Club (Ottawa) and of the Canadian Military Institute (Toronto), Ashlar Lodge A.F. & A.M., No. 249, and St. Paul’s Royal Arch Chapter, No. 65, Toronto. His recreations are curling and lawn bowling. In religion an Anglican. His address is Militia Department, Ottawa, Ontario, Can.
Graham, Hon. George Perry (Brockville, Ont.), is one of the leading public men of Canada, and a former cabinet minister. He was born on March 31, 1859, at Eganville, Ont., and is of Irish descent. He was educated at Iroquois and Morrisburg High Schools in the St. Lawrence Valley. He early became identified with journalism, and as editor and manager of the Brockville “Recorder,” made it one of the best known provincial papers in the Dominion. An earlier newspaper enterprise of his was the Morrisburg “Herald,” which he successfully conducted for eleven years; and he was for a short time associate editor of the Ottawa “Free Press.” As a young man, Mr. Graham became identified with the organization of the Liberal party in his district, and was in great demand as a platform speaker. Entry into public life was a logical outcome of his career as a moulder of public opinion. During his residence in Morrisburg, Ont., he was Reeve of the village and a member of the County Council, and in 1894 the Liberals nominated him for the riding of Dundas against no less an opponent than J. P. Whitney, afterwards Prime Minister of Ontario. At the general elections for the Legislature in 1898 he was Liberal candidate for Brockville, and was more successful, securing election by a substantial majority. He at once achieved a prominent position in the Legislature owing to his wit and skill as a debater. Those were the days when Mr. Whitney was making his long and ultimately successful fight for the overthrow of the Ross Government, and the former contestants in the riding of Dundas frequently crossed swords in debate. At the Legislative elections in 1902, Mr. Graham was re-elected for Brockville, though his party suffered heavy losses elsewhere, and on November 25, 1904, on the resignation of the late Hon. J. R. Stratton from the post of Provincial Secretary, he was called to the cabinet as his successor. At the general elections of the ensuing winter he was again returned for Brockville, but the Ross Government, of which he was a member, was defeated. On January 25, 1907, the Liberal caucus elected him leader of His Majesty’s loyal opposition, but he served in that capacity for only one session of the Legislature. In August of 1907, Sir Wilfrid Laurier induced him to abandon the provincial field, and offered him the portfolio of Railways and Canals in the Federal cabinet. He was sworn in as a member of the Privy Council on August 29, and on September 18, 1907, was elected by acclamation to the House of Commons for the Federal riding of Brockville. He continued as Minister of Railways for four years, and took an active part in the organization of his party in Ontario. In September, 1911, the Laurier administration was defeated at the polls. Mr. Graham was elected in a by-election in South Renfrew, and for the next six years continued to sit in opposition as the desk-mate of Sir Wilfrid Laurier. He did not seek re-election at the general elections of 1917, but has retained active connection with the Liberal party, and in many quarters his name was urged as the fitting successor of Sir Wilfrid Laurier in the party leadership. In addition to his journalistic and political activities, Mr. Graham is widely known in connection with fraternal insurance organizations. He was Grand Master of the Ancient Order of United Workmen for two years, and for a considerable period a member of the Finance Committee of that body. He is President of the Travellers’ Life Assurance Company of Canada, a Director of the Canada Foundries and Forging Company, Vice-President of Delaney Forge Company, and President of the “Recorder” Printing Company. In religion he is a Methodist. In 1882, he married Carrie, a daughter of Nelson Southworth, Morrisburg, Ont., and had two sons, Captain Perry M., who died some years ago, and Captain W. N., who was killed in the Great War.
Leonard, Lieutenant-Colonel Reuben Wells, Corps of Guides (St. Catharines, Ont.). Born at Brantford, Ont., February 21, 1860, son of the late Francis Henry Leonard (one time Reeve of the town of Brantford and Warden of the County of Brant) and Elizabeth, daughter of the late Captain Richard Catton. He was educated at the Brantford Collegiate Institute and Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, from which latter he graduated in 1883, winning the Silver Medal. Lieutenant-Colonel Leonard has had a wide experience in several branches of his chosen profession of engineering, having occupied positions of increasing importance in railroad, hydro-electric, and mining development. After completing his education in 1883, he took service with the Canadian Pacific Railway as instrumentman on surveys and resident engineer on construction of the Lake Superior Division. At the outbreak of the North-West Rebellion in 1885 he was appointed Staff Officer of Transport, and served in other capacities during the uprising. After the Rebellion he re-entered the service of the Canadian Pacific as engineer of surveys and construction in Manitoba and Ontario. From 1886 until 1890, he was chief engineer of the Cumberland Railway and Coal Co., in Nova Scotia. 1890-1891 he was again with the Canadian Pacific Railway on surveys of important branch lines in Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia. In 1891-92 he was engaged in railway contracting. In 1892-93 he was in charge of the construction of the first hydro-electric development at Niagara Falls, Ont., for the Park and River Railway Co. In 1893-94 he was engineer-in-charge of railway surveys for the Canadian Pacific Railway. From 1895 until 1899 he was chief engineer and manager of construction of the St. Lawrence and Adirondack Railway, and of the Montreal and Ottawa Short Line (C.P.R.) respectively, and consulting engineer for the Canadian Rutland Railway. His next step was again in the field of mining engineering, being engaged as engineer with the Lake Superior Corporation in developing their iron and nickel mines in the Sudbury and Michipicoten districts. In 1900, he returned to railroading as chief engineer and manager of construction of the Cape Breton Railway. From 1902 to 1904, he was engineer in charge of the construction of a hydro-electric plant at DeCew Falls, near St. Catharines, for the Hamilton Cataract Power Co., and in 1905-06 he was engaged in similar work at Kakabeka Falls, near Fort William, for the Kaministiquia Power Co. In 1905, when silver was first discovered in Northern Ontario, Colonel Leonard was one of the first prospectors in the Cobalt district and staked the Buffalo mine, and in the following year he acquired a controlling interest in the Coniagas mine, and promoted the Coniagas Mines, Ltd., of which he is President. This mine has been one of the largest and most consistent producers of silver ore in the rich Cobalt district, and during its ten years of operation has produced 25,000,000 ounces of silver, and is still one of the few silver-producing mines of Canada. In 1908 a subsidiary company—the Coniagas Reduction Co., Ltd., was formed primarily for the purpose of treating ore from the Coniagas mine, but a large custom trade has also been developed in the smelting and reduction of cobalt ores for the production of silver and lesser products. In 1911, Lieutenant-Colonel Leonard was selected by the Dominion Government for the position of Chairman of the National Transcontinental Railway Commission at Ottawa, with jurisdiction over the construction of the Government Railway from Moncton, N.B., to Winnipeg. This position he occupied, at much personal sacrifice, until the practical completion of the railway in 1914. Next to the mining industry, Colonel Leonard’s principal interest would appear to lie in the direction of the steel business, as his name appears on the directorate of several industries engaged in the manufacture of steel and steel products. He has recently promoted the organization of a new steel company, under the name of Electric Steel and Engineering Ltd., which is an amalgamation of several engineering enterprises in which he is interested, and whose different lines of manufacture he found could be co-ordinated to advantage. He is also a Director of the Toronto General Trusts Corporation. It may be said here that he is one of those men of business who are not content to be Directors in name only, but who believe in the principle that a Director should take a part in the actual direction of the enterprises with which he permits his name to become identified, and in conformity with this rule he has consistently declined to accept office as Director of commercial enterprises when he felt he was not in a position to give the necessary time and attention to the affairs of the business. Colonel Leonard has always taken a keen interest in the welfare and advancement of the engineering profession, and is an active member and past vice-president of the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers and the Canadian Mining Institute; President Engineering Institute of Canada, 1919-20. He has always been the friend of the young engineer, and ever ready to lend a hand in helping him along the road to success. He is also a past corresponding member of the Council of the Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, London, England, and a member of the American Institute of Mining Engineers. Member Institution of Civil Engineers, London, England. In spite of his many business activities, he finds time to devote to educational interests, and is a close student of all questions involving the well-being and good government of the State. He is a true Imperialist and advocate of closer unity between the component parts of the Empire; and any movement which promises to assist in attaining this end has his moral and financial support. He is a member of the Board of Governors of the University of Toronto; the Kingston School of Mining; Wycliffe College, Toronto; and Ridley College, St. Catharines, Ont. He has recently established scholarships under “The Leonard Foundation” in several of these Institutions to assist in the education and support of sons of clergymen, school teachers and officers and men of the Canadian and Imperial army and navy who require assistance in order to complete their education. His other benefactions are widely distributed and unheralded, and it is safe to say that few appeals on behalf of deserving objects are made to him in vain. A characteristic which strikes one forcibly is his ability to quickly analyse and grasp the essentials of things, and this faculty enables him to get through a large amount of work in a limited time, and also to readily appreciate the merits or demerits of things, whether in business, politics or the various public movements with which he may be asked to become identified. Since the outbreak of war, he has given much of his time and means to patriotic movements and other work tending to promote Canada’s whole-hearted participation in the war. Lieutenant-Colonel Leonard is in command of No. 2 Detachment, Corps of Guides. He is a member of the Mount Royal Club, Montreal; Rideau and Country Clubs, Ottawa; National Club and the Engineers’ Club, Toronto, and the Tourilli Fish and Game Club, Quebec. He is an ardent advocate of all outdoor sports, especially in the woods. He is an independent in politics, and in religion an Anglican. Married in 1889 to Kate Rowlands, daughter of the late John Rowlands, of Kingston, Ont.