CHAPTER XXXII.. Conclusion

CONCLUSION

The year 1917 terminated our Dominions' Commission work and brought to a close the fiftieth year of my railway life. As if to mark the occasion, Dame Fortune gave me a pleasant surprise, and what it was I will now relate.

In an earlier chapter I have spoken of the Letterkenny to Burtonport Railway (in North-West Donegal), with the early stages of which, in 1897, I had something to do. Now, in 1917, twenty years later, I was to become still more intimately acquainted with it, and, in an unexpected but practical way, concerned in its domestic affairs.

Though the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Company, which worked the Burtonport line, was a railway of only 14.5 miles in extent, it was entrusted with the working of no less than 85 other miles, 50 of which consisted of the Burtonport railway--a condition of things quite unique: the tail wagging the dog!

The total capital expenditure on the whole of the 100 miles of line worked by the Lough Swilly Company amounted to 727,000 pounds. Of this sum about 500,000 pounds, or 68 per cent., was money provided out of Government funds. The ordinary stock of the Lough Swilly Company was the exceedingly small sum of 50,330 pounds, upon which for twenty years a dividend of 7 per cent. had been regularly paid.

The Burtonport line was opened for traffic in 1903. From the first, its management, to say the least, was faulty and illiberal. So early in its history as 1905 an inquiry into its working was found to be necessary, and I was asked by the Board of Works to undertake the inquiry. I did so, and I had to report unfavourably, for "facts are chiels that winna ding." For some time after my report things went on fairly well, but only for a time. The Board of Works were, by Act of Parliament, custodians of the public interest in the matter of this and other similar railways, and a long-suffering and patient body they were. From time to time they complained, protested, adjured, threatened; sometimes with effect, sometimes without. Years rolled on and matters grew worse. Loud public complaints arose; the patience of the Board of Works exhausted itself, and a climax was reached.

The Railways Ireland Act, 1896, provides that where any railway, constructed under that Act, or under other Irish Light Railway Act, had been aided out of moneys provided by Parliament, the Board of Works might, at any time, appoint "a fit person to inspect and report upon the condition of the undertaking and the working, maintenance and development of the same," and if such "fit person" reported that the undertaking was "not efficiently worked, maintained and developed" the Privy Council might then make an Order appointing a manager or receiver of the undertaking, with such powers as should be specified in the Order. The powers thus given are, it will be observed, certainly drastic.

In April, 1917, Sir George Stevenson, K.C.B., the Chairman of the Board of Works, asked me would I make such an inquiry for them into the Burtonport line, and, considering myself a "fit person," I gladly answered Yes. Sir George Stevenson was Tom Robertson's successor, though not his immediate successor, as another George (Sir George Holmes) came between. He (the reigning Chairman) was, in 1892, appointed a Commissioner of the Board of Works; and in 1913 he attained the position of Chairman; and the chair it is generally conceded has never been better filled. He has the advantage of continuous experience of Treasury business since 1886, and possesses an exceptional knowledge of all matters, local and otherwise, affecting the development of State Railways in Ireland.

My inquiry I may, I am sure, without immodesty, say was thorough and complete. On the 7th of May I presented my report. The facts which I found were such that only one conclusion was possible--the line was not in good condition; was not and had not been efficiently worked, maintained or developed. I will not harrow my readers with a description of its condition. One little quotation from the summing up in my report will suffice to indicate the state of affairs, and, to the imaginative mind, present a picture of the whole. "Everything has for years past been allowed to run down; the direction and management have been characterised by extreme parsimony; and the disabled condition of the engines is undoubtedly due to lack of proper upkeep, which must have been going on for years. The state of the permanent way shows a want of proper maintenance; and the condition of the stations, buildings and of the carriages speaks of neglect."

In fairness, I ought to say that the direction and management responsible for these things are not the direction and management that exist to-day.

Mr. Henry Hunt, the present General Manager of the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Company, was appointed to that position in September, 1916. He came from the Great Central Railway. This is what I said about him in my report: "He is a good railway man, capable and experienced. He has assumed and exercises an authority which none of his predecessors possessed, and is keen to do all he can to improve matters and develop the railway." Further acquaintance with Mr. Hunt has more than confirmed my high opinion of him.

In due time my report was submitted to the Privy Council, which august body, after hearing all that was to be said on the subject by the Lough Swilly Railway Company and others, made an Order which is the first of its kind--an Order which, for a period of two years, took out of the hands of the Lough Swilly Railway Directors the management of the Burtonport Railway, and placed it in the hands of Mr. Hunt, subject to my supervision. The Order said: "Henry Hunt, at present the General Manager of the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Company, is hereby appointed Manager of the said undertaking of the said railway under and subject to the supervision of Mr. Joseph Tatlow, Director of the Midland Great Western Railway Company of Ireland." Then followed various clauses defining the duties and authority with which Mr. Hunt, as Manager, was invested.

This appointment, to supervise, under the Privy Council, the management of the Burtonport line, was the pleasant surprise which Dame Fortune brought me in my fiftieth year of railway work.

The duties of the office began on the 1st of July, 1917, and the two years prescribed have expired; but Mr. Hunt's management and my supervision have, by Privy Council Order, been extended for a further period. My story may not go beyond fifty years, but this I may say, that what Hunt and I were able to accomplish in the first six months of our novel regime was an augury of what we have accomplished since, and that a grateful public throughout the district of North-West Donegal, which the Burtonport Railway serves, does not stint its praise. Trains are punctual now, engines do not break down, carriages are comfortable, goods traffic is well worked, and delays are exceptional. Much has been done, more would have been done but for difficulties due to the war, and a good deal still remains to be done.

In North-West Donegal, some two years ago, the idea of writing this book was conceived, and with North-West Donegal its pages close. As I lay down my pen, some words which I used in my opening chapter recur to my mind. I then expressed the hope that, in spite of all its drawbacks, my story, if faithfully told, might not be entirely devoid of interest, and now that I have finished my task, I humbly trust that the hope then expressed has been attended with some measure of success, and that my purpose has not altogether failed.

INDEX.

Accidents Compensation Act, 1846 52 Accounts, form of railway 53, 193 Acts of Parliament, general railway 49 Acworth, W M 145, 166, 183 Advertisements on railway stations 66 Alcorn, J., Great Southern & Western Railway 137 Allerton, Lord 109 Allport Commission, 1887 91, 93, 107, 109 Allport, Sir James 15, 22, 35, 39, 76, 77 Analysis of railway accounts 59 Anderson, Alexander, surfaceman poet 79 Andrews, Thomas, and the Titanic 101 Andrews, Thomas, Right Honorable 100, 109, 111 Apollo Belvidera 24 "Appeal unto Caesar" 22 Arbitration, my first case 99 Ardglass Light Railway 108 Aspinall, Sir John 181, 183 Athenry and Ennis Junction, railway rates and charges, Order Confirmation Act, 1892 138 Athenry and Ennis Railway 121, 134, 155 Atmospheric railways 195 Atock, Martin 119, 126, 127 Austria, Empress of 125

Bailey, Walter 99, 151, 193, 194 Bailie, the, Glasgow 61, 79 Baillie, G L 110 "Balfours Act"--Light railways, Ireland 107 Ballinasloe Fair 125 Barrington, Croker 179, 190 Bateman, Sir Alfred, K.C.M.G. 201 "Battle of the Gauges" 52 Beach, Sir Michael Hicks 142 Beaux 77, 98 Belfast and County Down Railway 91, 94 Belgium, a tour in 113 Benedict, a youthful 25 Benefit Society, Midland Great Western Railway 130 "Bigg's General Railway Acts" 48 Birt, Sir William 153 Block working 106 Board of Trade inquiry as to railway rates 104 Board of Trade, the 139 Bowring, the Hon Sir Edgar 202 Boyhood, pleasures and amusements 7 Boyhood, Schoolmaster "Jessie" 9 Bridge Street Station, Glasgow 47, 66 Brother to a baronet 45 Browne, Balfour, K.C 150, 155, 159, 160, 180 Buchanan Street Station, Glasgow 40 Buncrana to Carndonagh Railway 152 Burns, Mr. John (Lord Inverclyde) 73, 133 Burtonport Railway 152, 215 Bushe, Seymour 155, 159 Butterley Tunnel, the 29 Butterworth, Sir Alexander 105

Caledonian Railway Stores Superintendent 32, 44 Cambuslang, our lodgings at 42, 43 Campbell, Donald 201 Campbell, the Right Hon. Sir James, Baronet, Lord Chancellor of Ireland 180 Cane, Arthur B 192 Carlyle, Thomas 80 Carriages, four-wheeled 5 Carriages, second-class, abolition of 38 Carriers' Act, the 1830 49 "Champagne Charley" coats 19 Charles Lamb, "plumb pudding" 49 Cheap Trains Act, 1883 89 City of Dublin Junction Railway 120 City of Glasgow Bank, failure of 76 Clerks in office, Derby 23 Colhoun, R G 137, 153 Collier, Dr. 110 Committee Rooms, Westminster 135, 136 Committee, Select, 1840 50 Companies Clauses Act, 1845 51 Competitive traffic 65 Concealed bed, a 40 Connemara 129, 173 Constantinople 162 Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act, 1878 88 Continuous brakes, a trial of, at Newark 87 Continuous Brakes Act, 1878 87, 106 Conveyance of Mails, Railways, Act, 1838 50 Cook, Thomas, & Son 170 Cooper, David 68 Cork, Blackrock & Passage Railway 170 Cotton, Edward John 97, 98, 115, 122 Country walks 18, 30 Cowie, James 199 Cromford Canal and Butterley Tunnel 28 Culverwell, G P 152 Curtsey, the 18 Cusack, Major H C 175, 199 Cusack, Sir Ralph 113, 116, 117, 118, 119, 129, 136, 138, 175 Cynicus 42, 43, 78, 126

D'Abernon, Lord 200 Dan Godfrey's band 62 Dargan, William 124 Delicate health 5, 17, 21, 91, 181 Dent, Charles 174 Derby, General Manager's Office 57 Dickens, Charles 8, 17, 30 Dickie, David 65 Directors, railway 34 Directorship, my first 194 Diseases of Animals Act, 1894 144 Drudgery of the desk 29 Dublin & Kingstown Railway, opposition to 195 Dublin & South Eastern Railway 157 Dundreary whiskers 19 Dunoon, bazaar at 42

Edinburgh 41, 44 Egypt and the Nile 170 Elliott, Thomas 120 Employers' Liability Act, 1880 88 Engineer, Midland Railway 32

Family album 20 Fares, first-class, reduction of 37 Farmer, Ned 22 Fashions, Victorian days 18 Father, my 4 Fay, Sir Sam 191 Fenton, Sir Myles 76 Findlay, Sir George 131, 136, 141 "First-footin'" 40 First public speech 46 Fitzgibbon, G 180 Forbes, Sir William 191 Foster, the Right Hon. Sir George 201 Franks, Temple 193 Friends in Glasgow 78 Funeral customs 20

Galloway, Andrew 86 Galway, "City of the Tribes" 129 Galway, Trans-Atlantic Steamship Service 129 Garnett, Tom 201 Garrotters 20 Gauge of railways 51 General managers' conference 191 General managers in Ireland 90 General Manager's Office, Derby 57 General Railway Acts of Parliament 49 Gibb, Sir George 158 Gill, W R 113, 114 Gillies, F H 69 Glasgow & South-Western Railway 37 Glasgow & South-Western Railway, my removal to the 47, 57 Glasgow Bailie, the 61, 79 Glasgow, Bridge Street Station 47, 66 Glasgow, Buchanan Street Station 40 Glasgow flats 41 Glasgow landlady, our 41 Glasgow, S. Enoch Station 58, 66 Golf, its introduction in Ireland 110 Gooday, J F S 192 Goods-train-delays Clerk 22 Goulding, Right Hon. Sir William 179, 180, 190 Grand Canal, arbitration 151 Granet, Sir Guy 57, 193 Great Eastern Railway 35, Great Eastern steamer 7 Great Northern Railway to King's Cross 37 Great Southern & Western Railway 134, 156 Great Western cooking depots 44 Greene, George William 119 Gresham, Thomas Michael 195 Grierson, James 76, 83, 103 Guinness & Co., a stout resistance 139 "Gumpots" 24 Gweedore Hotel 1

Haggard, Sir Rider 201 Harcourt, Viscount 198 Harding, E J, C.M.G 202 Harrison, Sir Frederick 77 Health, delicate 5, 17, 21, 28, 91, 181 Healy, T M, K.C. 180 Hogmanhay 40 Holland, Cologne and the Rhine 151 Holliday, William 157 Hopwood, Sir Francis (Lord Southborough) 139 Hornsby, John P 120 Horsemanship 5, 102 Hospitality, Ballinasloe 126 Hours of work of railway men 107, 142, 143 Hudson, George, the "Railway King" 12 Hunt, Henry 217

Imperial Development Board 213 Income Tax, 3d in the pound 45 Ingram, Joseph 179 Interference of outsiders 95 Interlocking points and signals 106 International Railway Congress 144, 150, 166 Inverclyde, Lord (Mr John Burns) 73, 133 Ireland, general managers in 90 Ireland, holiday 66 Irish Board of Works 148, 174, 180, 216 Irish Department of Agriculture 154 Irish Railway Clearing House 15, 97, 148 Irish railways abused 178 Irish railways, progress of 169, 190 Isle of Man, a steamboat service 112

Jekyll, Sir Herbert, K.C.M.G. 183 Johnstone, Mr. Glasgow & South-Western Railway 56 Jubilee, the railway 62 Junior clerk, salary 21

Kaiser, the 177 Kedleston Inn 31 Kelly, R W 85, 94 Kempt, Irvine 65 Kilkelly, John 177 King Edward, visit to Ireland 173 Kinnegar, the first golf links in Ireland 110 Knox, Vesey, K.C. 155, 180

Ladies' manners, Victorian days 18 Lands Clauses Act, 1845 51 Langerman, Sir Jan 201 Letterkenny to Burtonport Railway 152, 215 Light Railway Acts, Ireland, 1860-1883 108 Light Railway, definition of 109 Light Railways Act, 1896 150 Light railways in Connemara, Kerry, Mayo and Donegal 108 Light railways in Great Britain 109, 167 Light Railways (Ireland) Act, 1889 107 Limerick, the joybells 161 "Little Jim" 23 Littler, Sir Ralph 135, 136, 155, 157, 159 Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the 13, 50, 195 Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Company 152, 215 Long Jack 26 Lorimer, Sir William 201

McCorquodale & Co 42 McDermott, Edward 141 McDermott, F 141 MacLaren, James 65 Mann, Sir Daniel 206 Martin, Robert, of Ross 128 Martin, Sir Theodore 161, 162 Mathieson, John 64 Maximum rates and charges 104, 106 Maypole, the 31 Meerschaum pipe, colouring of 20, 35, 102 Midland and Glasgow and South-Western Alliance 58 Midland Great Western Railway and "Balfour Lines" 108 Midland Great Western Railway Benefit Society 130 Midland Great Western Railway, extent of, &c. 113, 116 Midland Railway, comparison with year 1851 11 Midland Railway, present general manager 4, 57 Midland Railway, progress of 36 Midland Railway, proposed amalgamation with L & NW 12 Miller, R G 92 Mills, A E 123 Mills, W F 121, 123 Mills, W H 169 Ministry of Transport 179, 187 Money grants for light railways, Ireland 107 Monte Carlo 177 Montreal Herald, the 67 Moore, Charles A 99 Morris, Sir George 128, 163 Morrison, Robert 120 "My old Wife's a good old cratur" 23 Mylchreest, Joseph, the "Diamond King" 112

National Insurance Act 131 New Year's Day 44 Newcastle golf links, County Down 111 Newcomen Junction battle 120 North British Railway 75 North West Donegal 1, 218 Notice of Accidents Act, 1894 143 Nugent, the Hon Richard 153, 175, 186, 199 Nugent, Sir Walter, Bart 198

Oakley, Sir Henry 76, 77, 193 O'Connor, Sir Nicholas 163 Office hours, 1868 22 Office life, beginning of 21 O'Neill, Michael 130 Owens, Sir Charles 198

Parcel post receipts, Irish railways 137 Paris 80, 166, 198 Parker, William 22, 23 Parliament yields to popular clamour 105 Parliamentary Committee, evidence before 135, 156 Pay-day in office 26 Pease, Edward 62 Peel, Isle of Man 112 Pember, Mr. K.C. 135, 155, 159 Penmanship, imitation of 22 Pim, F W 182 Pinion, James 94, 99 Pirrie, Lord 85, 92, 183 Pitman's shorthand 29, 32 Plews, Henry 97, 150, 153 Poe, Colonel Sir Hutcheson 183 Poetical productions 6 Pope, Mr Samuel, K.C. 135, 155, 159, 160 Portrush golf links 110 Post Office (Parcels) Act, 1882 88 Power, John F 157 Practical railway work 97, 103 Pratt, Edwin A 105, 182, 193 Prince and Princess of Wales 34, 145 Privy Council Order, Burtonport Railway 217 Prize fights, trains for 54 Pullman Cars 36, 38, 58

Quirey, John 179

Railway Accounts, analysis of 59 Railway Accounts, form of 53, 193 Railway and Canal Commission 54, 120 Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1854 52 Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1888 103, 113, 121, 132 Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1894 144 Railway Benevolent Institution 67, 84, 121 Railway Clauses Act, 1845 51 Railway Clearing House 15 Railway Companies (Accounts and Returns) Act, 1911, 193 Railway Companies' Association 192 Railway Companies' Powers Act, 1864 53 Railway Construction Facilities Act, 1864 53 Railway Employment (Prevention of Accidents) Act, 1900 161 Railway Gazette, the 141 Railway life in Ireland 115 Railway mania, 1845 14, 50 Railway News, the 67, 100, 141 Railway Ramblers 67 Railway Regulation Act, 1840 50 Railway Regulation Act, 1844 50 Railway Regulation Act, 1893 142 Railway Regulation (Gauge) Act, 1846 52 Railway Societies 68 Railway Statistics 59 Railway system of Scotland 63 Railways (Electric Power) Act, 1903 176 Railways Fires Act, 1905 176 Railways, Inspection of 54 Railways Ireland Act, 1896 149 Railways of the Dominions 207 Railways, Scotland, England and Ireland compared, 64, 142, 169 Railways, State purchase of 51 Railways, the future of 187 Rates and fares 32, 82 Regulation of Railways Act, 1868 53 Regulation of Railways Act, 1871 54 Regulation of Railways Act, 1873 54 Regulation of Railways Act, 1889 106 Reid, A G 65, 157 Revision of railway rates 104, 138 Roberts, William 152 Robertson, Tom 65, 91, 98, 137, 148, 150, 151 Robson, Sir Mayo 181 Rock Villa 32 Rolling stock, County Down Railway 92 Running powers 135, 156, 159, 160 Russell, George 69 Russell, Lord John 126 Ryan, Martin, cattle dealer 135

Sabbath, breaking the 41 St. Enoch Station, Glasgow 58, 66 St. Pancras Station, opening of 36 St. Rollox, Glasgow, lunch 45 Saloon, the Dargan 124 Schooldays, country walks 18 Schooldays, reading and drawing 17 Scotter, Sir Charles 180, 183 Scottish railways 63 Second-class carriages, abolition of 37 Select Committee, 1840 50 Select Committee on railway charges, 1881 82 Select Committees, 1858 and 1863 53 Settle and Carlisle line 36, 37, 38 Sexton, Thomas 183 Shanahan, George 180 Shaw, Sir Alexander 157 Shorthand, Pitman's 29, 32 Sighthill Cemetery, lunch on a tombstone 45 Sinclair, the Hon Sir John 201 Sinclair, Right Hon Thomas 110 Skipworth, W G 97, 113 Sleeping cars 38 Smiles, Samuel 141 Smoking compartments 53 Smyth, G E 179 Southborough, Lord (Sir Francis Hopwood) 140 Spain and Portugal, visit to 146 Speech, first in public 46 Spencer, Lord 158 State purchase of railways 51 Stephens, Mr Pembroke K.C. 136, 147 Stephenson, George 62 Stevenson, Sir George, K.C.B 216 Stirling, James 65 Stockton & Darlington Railway 50, 62, 195 Superannuation funds 39, 116 Swarbrick, Samuel 35 Swearing, an accomplishment 20, 26

Tailor's dummy, a perambulating 24 Tatlow, Frank 57 Tatlow, William 132 Terminals 82 Theodore Hook's old joke 22 Third-class carriages by all trains 36, 38 Thompson, Sir James 77, 138 Time-tables and train working 33 Tom 29, 70 Trade unionism 22 Trades Disputes Act, 1906 176 Trans-Atlantic steamship service, Galway 129

Ulster & Connaught Railway 174

Visinet, Tony 80

Wainwright, Mr W J 46, 56, 59, 60, 66, 73, 76, 86 Waldron, the Right Hon Laurence A. 194 Wales, Prince and Princess of 34 Walker, John 75, 133 Walklate, Thomas 22 Walks, favourite 18, 30 Warming pans 20 Waterford & Limerick Railway 134, 135, 155, 156 Watkin, Sir Edward 56, 76, 77 Way bills 21 Wells, E W 57 Workmen's Compensation Act, 1906 177

Young, Right Hon John 99 Youthful benedict, A 25

Footnotes.

{207a} White population.

{207b} If native population taken into account the approximate figure is 700 inhabitants.