Adamson, John Evans, B.A. (Winnipeg, Man.), was born at Nelson, Manitoba, on Sept. 9, 1884, and is the son of Alan J. and Julia Adamson. He was educated at the public schools of Manitoba and Saskatchewan and graduated from St. John’s College, Winnipeg, with degree of B.A. in 1907. Called to the Bar in 1910. Member of the law firm Adamson & Lindsay, Winnipeg. Married Mary Turriff, daughter of Senator J. G. Turriff, Ottawa, on April 8, 1912, and is the father of two children. Is a member of the Carlton and St. Charles Country Club and also a member of the Masonic Order. In religion he is an Anglican and a Liberal in politics. His recreations are golf and motoring.
Peuchen, Lieut.-Col. Arthur Godfrey, Capitalist, retired Manufacturer, son of Godfrey E. Peuchen and Eliza Eleanor Clarke of Hull, Eng. born in Montreal, April 18, 1859; educated in private schools there. His father was a Railroad Contractor in South America and built a railroad from Laguero to Caracas, Venezuela; his grandfather was manager of the London, Brighton and Midland Railway in England. Canada is indebted to Col. Peuchen for his ingenuity in being the first man to grasp the possibility of utilizing the unmarketable portions of our hardwood forests in a scientific way. In travelling he observed that England and France had virtually no forests, and knowing that the Canadian lumberman was only taking from our woods the flotable timber, leaving the unmerchantable coarse hardwood, he conceived the idea of turning this waste into the manufacturing of valuable chemicals: Acetic Acid, Acetate of Lime, Acetone, Wood Alcohol and Formaldehyde, the latter being so important for the successful growing of wheat in Canada, and the former for the dyeing industry; also benefited the English War Office by being the first man under the British Flag to produce acetone direct from wood, which he supplied the Admiralty in large quantities for the manufacture of high explosives, such as cordite. Introduced our present system of charcoal distribution in paper bags. With Sir Wm. McKenzie and others he organized the Standard Chemical Company with a small capital, which he gradually through his unbounded energy increased to five millions—beginning in 1897 by distilling only 22 tons of wood per day, eventually by 1913 this distillation was increased to over 1,000 tons. The production of these chemicals meant a tremendous export trade. He erected factories at: Fenelon Falls, Deseronto, Longford Mills, South River, Sault Ste. Marie, Fassett and Cookshire, and operated factories at Thornbury, Parry Sound and Mount Tremblant; erected refineries in Montreal, London, England, France and Germany, where crude alcohol was shipped and refined; bought and operated blast charcoal furnaces at Deseronto, and built one at Parry Sound. Was President and General Manager of the Standard Chemical Company from 1897 to 1914. Was active in military circles: Lt., Q.O.R., 1888; Captain, 1894; Major, 1904; Lieutenant-Colonel, May 21st, 1912. Went to England with the Queen’s Own in 1910 as Major, for the Imperial Fall Manœuvres at Salisbury Plain, and part of this period was in charge of the regiment under General French. Was Marshalling Officer in command of escort of officers of Indian Cavalry, Royal Procession, Coronation of King George, 1911; Officer Commanding Home Battalion Q.O.R., 1914 and 1915. Officer’s long service decoration. Was in the “Titanic,” disaster, of which he was one of two only surviving males in Canada. President of the Imperial Land Co.; owner, McLaren Lumber Company, of Blairmore, Alberta, which controls all the large green timber in Southern Alberta, also saw mills and branch retail yards. Clubs: National, Toronto Hunt, Ontario Jockey, Life Member Military Institute; ex-Flag Officer and Life Member of Royal Canadian Yacht Club, having held the positions of vice and rear Commodore. Was owner for several years of the famous yacht “Vreda,” which crossed the Atlantic under her own canvas and won more races in her class than any other yacht in Canada. Member of St. Paul’s Anglican Church and a Governor of Grace Hospital. In politics a Conservative. Col. Peuchen has a strong personality, frank and genial in manner, easy and interesting in conversation; has crossed the Atlantic 30 odd times and travelled extensively in many lands. Recreations, golf, riding, yachting. He married Margaret Thompson, daughter of John Thompson, of Orillia, 1893. One son, Lieutenant Godfrey Alan Peuchen, Imperial Royal Field Artillery, Asst.-Adjt. H.Q. to the 26th Brigade of Artillery during the War; daughter, Jessie, married Lieutenant Harry C. Lefroy, M.C., of the Imperial Royal Field Artillery. Residence during the War: Queen Anne’s Mansions, St. James Park, London, England; summer home, “Woodlands,” one of the most picturesque spots on Lake Simcoe.
Forin, John Andrew (Nelson, B.C.), Judge of the County Court of West Kootenay, is a son of John Forin, Architect, of Belleville, Ont., where he was born on July 20, 1861. He was educated at Albert College, Belleville, and at Osgoode Hall, Toronto, and was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1885. He saw service in the North-west Rebellion of that year as a private in the Queen’s Own Rifles of Toronto, and holds the medal and clasp for that campaign. Later he practised in British Columbia and received his present judicial appointment in 1896. He still retains his connection with military affairs and at the time of writing is Officer Commanding of the 107th Regiment, B.C., with the rank of Major. Since 1915, the Internment camp at Morrissey, B.C., and the guards at the Trail, B.C., Smelter have been details of the regiment mentioned. He has also devoted some attention to literary pursuits and has published essays on legal and sociological subjects. His recreations are curling and golf; he is a member of the Nelson and Rossland Clubs and of the Scottish Clan Society. In religion he is a Presbyterian, and on May 18, 1895, was married to Mary, daughter of Peter T. Dunn, merchant, of Vancouver, B.C. He has five children, Jean Victoria, Isabel Dunn, John Douglas, Peter McLaren, and Mary Edith Forin.
Coburn, John W. (Nanaimo, B.C.), one of the leading lumbermen of the Pacific Coast, was born at Harvey, New Brunswick, the son of A. W. Coburn, farmer and contractor, and Elizabeth Messer, his wife. He was educated in the public schools of his native province and, later, in private schools in British Columbia. As a youth he took up railroading and had sixteen years’ experience therein, principally as a passenger conductor. Subsequently he went into the lumber business and was extremely successful. His interests are now very extensive. He is President of the Ladysmith Lumber Co., of Nanaimo; the Ladysmith Hardware Co., and of the Last West Lumber Co., which latter corporation does retail business in the Western Provinces. He is also a director of the Shawinigan Lake Lumber Co. He has shown a progressive and energetic spirit in public affairs and is an ex-President of the Nanaimo and Ladysmith Boards of Trade. He has also filled the following municipal offices: Mayor of Wellington, B.C., and of Ladysmith, B.C. (for three terms) and School Trustee and Alderman for three terms, when his business interests prevented him continuing in further civic affairs in Nanaimo. He is a member of the Masonic Order, is a Presbyterian in religion and a supporter of Union Government. On Feb. 8, 1899, he married Ellen Cowie (his second wife), a daughter of Alexander Cowie, Elora, Ont., by whom he has three children, Wallace, Gordon and Lorna Maud.
Ingram, George C., B.A., 1167 2nd Ave. N.W., Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, one of the well known business men of that province, was born in Aberdeen, Scotland, on October 16, 1867, the son of James and Elizabeth (Leith) Ingram. When nine months old his parents emigrated to Tipton, Iowa, where the subject of this sketch spent twenty years on a farm. He was educated in the local schools of Tipton and later took a course at the Northern Indiana Normal School, Valparaiso, Indiana, taking the degree of B.A. In 1890 he removed to Minnesota, where he practised as a surveyor for two years, after which he founded the Ingram Lumber Co., of Sank Centre, Minn., continuing in business there until 1910. In the latter year he moved to Saskatoon, Sask., as special representative of the Western Retail Lumbermen’s Association, a post he held until 1912, when he became General Manager, Director and Secretary of Security Lumber Company, Limited, of Moose Jaw, a position he still holds. While a resident of the United States he was President (1905-6) of the Northwestern Lumbermen’s Association, Minneapolis. He has served as an Alderman and is a Liberal in politics. His recreation is golf and he belongs to the Prairie Club, Moose Jaw, and to the A.F. & A.M. (Shriner). On Sept. 22, 1896, he married Lulu, daughter of the late David Wilcox, and has three children, Howard C., Hildred and George L. Ingram.