Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland Part 12

Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland Part 12

On the twenty-second day after leaving home, at six o'clock in the morning, we were aroused in our berths and informed that we had arrived at Constantinople. The morning, unfortunately, was dull, and our first view of the Ottoman city, therefore, a little obscured. All the same, it was a great sight, with its minarets and towers, its Golden Horn and crowded quays. Our dragoman kept at bay all the clamouring crowd of porters, guides and nondescripts of all colours and races that besieged us. It was 8.30 a.m. when we landed, but 3.30 p.m. by Turkish time. The Moslem day is from sunset to sunset, and sunset is always reckoned 12 o'clock; an awkward arrangement which the reforming "Young Turk" perhaps has since altered. The week we spent in Constantinople was all too short. We stayed at the Pera Palace Hotel, and the first night after dinner, in our innocence, strolled out. All was dark and dismal; no one in the streets. We went as far as the quays, strolled back and on the way called at a small cafe, the only inmate of which was a dwarf, as remarkable looking as Velasquez's _Sebastian de Morra_. The hall porter at our hotel was waiting our return with anxiety. "It was not safe to be out at night," he said; "we had gold watches on us and money in our purses, and knives were sharp." Murray's guide book, we afterwards found, gave similar warning, without mentioning knives. Sir Nicholas O'Connor was our Amba.s.sador in Constantinople. He was an Irishman from County Mayo, and I had a letter of introduction to him from my friend Sir George Morris. Sir Nicholas invited me to lunch at Therapia, where the Emba.s.sy was in residence in its summer quarters. He was exceedingly kind and facilitated our sightseeing in the great city during our stay. We witnessed the Selamlik ceremony of the Sultan's weekly visit for prayers to the Mosque Hamedieh Jami, which stands adjacent to the grounds of Yildiz Kiosk. It was worth seeing. There was a great gathering of military in splendid uniforms and glittering decorations. Seven handsome carriages contained his princ.i.p.al wives, or ladies of the harem (wives we were told), and several of the Sultan's sons (mere youths) were there, beautifully apparelled. We caught glimpses of the ladies through their carriage windows, and being women (though veiled) I should be surprised if they, on their part, did not get glimpses of us. There were eunuchs too, black frock-coated--and the chief eunuch, an important personage who ranks very high. Then came the Sultan (Abdul Hamid) himself in an open carriage, closely surrounded and guarded by officers. He was an elderly, careworn, bearded, sallow, melancholy looking man, whose features seemed incapable of a smile. He entered the Mosque alone; his wives remaining seated in their carriages outside. In the room in which we sat at an open window to view the ceremony we were regaled with the Sultan's coffee and cigarettes.

The streets and bazaars of Constantinople were absorbingly interesting.

The various nationalities that everywhere met the eye; the flowing eastern costumes, the picturesque water carriers, the public letter writers patiently seated at street corners and occupied with their clients, the babel of voices, and yet an Oriental indolence pervading all, crowds but no hurry; the sonorous and musical sound of the Muezzin call to prayers from the minarets--all was new and strange; delightful too, if you except the dogs that beset the streets and over which, as they lay about, we stumbled at every step. They are now a thing of the past. Poor brutes, they deserved a better fate than the cruel method of extinction which Turkish rule administered.

Of course we visited Stamboul's greatest Mosque, S. Sophia. Many other Mosques we saw, but none that approached the majesty of this. One, the Church of the Monastery of the Chora, famous for its beautiful mosaics, we did not see, although the German Emperor had driven specially to it on his visit in 1898 to the Sultan. The only good road Constantinople seemed to possess was this road to the church, which lies outside the city, and this road, we were told, was constructed for the convenience of His Imperial Majesty.

One day, on the bridge that spans the Golden Horn, we pa.s.sed the Grand Vizier in his carriage. It was the day on which we crossed the Bosphorus by steamer to visit Scutari on the Asiatic sh.o.r.e. Scutari commands a splendid view of the city, the Golden Horn, and the Bosphorus in its winding beauty, right away to the Black Sea. What a city some day will Constantinople be! The grandest perhaps on earth. In Scutari we heard the Howling Dervishes at their devotions, and the following day, in Constantinople, witnessed a _performance_ shall I call it? of the Dancing Dervishes in their whirling, circling, toe-revolving exercise. The object of both is said to be to produce the ecstatic state in which the soul enters the world of dreams and becomes one with G.o.d. There is no question as to the ecstatic, nay frenzied state many of them attained.

Our last day was the eve of the Ramadan Fast. At eight o'clock that night we left by train to journey homeward overland, for time demanded that we should go back much quicker than we came.

We broke our journey for two days at Buda-Pesth, and looked on the Danube; at Vienna we stayed a little longer, and found that gay city hard to leave. We drove and rode in the Prater, and horseback exercise in such a place was, I need not say, delightful. We stopped at Frankfort, enjoyed its opera and other things, then, _via_ Ostend, wended our way to London.

CHAPTER XXVI.

A CONGRESS AT PARIS, THE PROGRESS OF IRISH LINES, EGYPT AND THE NILE

"Will you undertake to report on the subject of Light Railways for the International Railway Congress at Paris?" This question was put to me in the year 1899, and although I was busy enough, without shouldering additional work, I at once said "Yes," and this was how I came to spend part of my 1900 annual holiday in the beautiful but crowded capital of France. Crowded it was almost to suffocation, for 1900 was the Great Exhibition year, and all the world and his wife were there. The Railway Congress took place in September. The business part of the proceedings came first, and I did not stay for the festivities. When my Report was made and discussed (a reporter was not allowed to read his paper, but was required to speak from notes), I made, with three railway friends from Dublin, tracks for Switzerland. It had been a strenuous year and mountain air and exercise were needed to restore one's physical strength and jaded faculties.

"_Means of developing light railways. What are the best means of encouraging the building of light railways_?" This was the text for my paper, as sent to me by the Congress, and my Report, I was told, should be confined to the United Kingdom, Mr. W. M. Acworth having undertaken a report on the subject for other countries.

In my Report I first disposed of Ireland, concerning which and its light railways I have already written with some fullness in these pages; and my readers, I am sure, will not be surprised to hear that, as regards that country I answered the question remitted to me by saying that the only practical means I could see of further encouraging the construction of light railways in Ireland was by the wise expenditure of additional Government Grants, while as regards England, I pointed out that she had for long preferred to dispense with light railways, that, as forcibly expressed in _The Times_, she alone of civilised countries had but one standard for her railways, that is "the best that money could buy"; that times had changed, and in 1894 and 1895 much discussion and investigation on the subject had taken place, brought about chiefly, I thought, by depression in agriculture; that the energy which France, Germany, Sweden, Belgium and Italy had expended on their light railway systems, especially in agricultural and rural districts, had helped to further concentrate public opinion on the question; that a conference had been held at the Board of Trade and a Committee appointed to investigate the subject; that this Committee, after various sittings, had reported in favour of legislation, and that the result had been that the _Light Railway Act_ of 1896 had come into being. My paper also dealt with this Act, explaining its scope, its limitations and what its effect had been during the comparatively short time (only four years) it had been in force; and my conclusion was that in Great Britain no further facilities were at that time required for encouraging the building of light railways, the best policy in my judgment being, to give the Act a fair trial, as time only could show to what extent the railways to be made in virtue of its provisions would fulfil the objects for which it had been pa.s.sed.

Mr. Acworth did not tackle the question as affecting other countries. He reported that he had no special knowledge which would ent.i.tle him to say how light railway enterprise could best be developed in countries other than his own, and that as my Report "sufficiently set out the present position of affairs in reference to light railways in the United Kingdom," he thought the most useful contribution he could offer to the discussion of the question would be "a short criticism of the working, both from a legal or administrative and also from a practical point of view, of our English Act of 1896."

The Act of 1896 was one of considerable importance to British Railways and, therefore, merits a few words. It established three Commissioners who were empowered to make Orders authorising the construction of Light Railways, including powers for the compulsory acquisition of land; authorised the granting of Government loans and, under special circ.u.mstances, free grants of money. The Board of Trade might require any project brought forward under the Act to be submitted to Parliament, if they considered its magnitude, or the effect it might have on any existing railway, demanded such a course. The Act simplified and cheapened the process for the acquisition of land, and ordained that in fixing the price the consequent betterment of other lands held by the same owner should be taken into account. It imparted considerable power to dispense with certain expensive conditions and regulations in working railways constructed under its authority. Though it was intended primarily to benefit agriculture, it was capable of an interpretation wide enough to include all kinds of tramways, and it has been extensively used for that purpose, sometimes, I fear, to the detriment of existing railways.

According to an article in the Jubilee (1914) number of the _Railway News_, by Mr. Welby Everard, up to the end of the year 1912 (since the outbreak of the war figures are not obtainable) a total of 645 applications (including 111 applications for amending Orders) were made to the Commissioners, the total mileage represented being 4,861 miles. Of these applications 418 were pa.s.sed, comprising 2,115 miles, of which, 1,415 miles were in cla.s.s A, _i.e_. light railways to be constructed on land acquired or "cross-country" lines, that is to say, lines which legitimately fulfilled the purposes of the Act. But, up to October, 1913, only 45 of these lines, with a total length of 441 miles, had been constructed and opened for traffic. The number of applications to the Commissioners seemed to show a considerable demand for greater facilities for transit in rural districts, but capital apparently was slow to respond to that demand. Perhaps it will be different now, in these days of change and reconstruction. The Government is pledged to tackle the whole question of Transport, and Light Railways will, of course, not be overlooked, though Motor Traction will run them a close race.

For ten years I had now been manager of the Midland Great Western Railway, and busy and interesting years they were. In that period Irish railways, considering that the population of the country was diminishing, had made remarkable progress, and effected astonishing improvements.

Whilst the population of England during the decade had _increased_ by 9.13 per cent., and Scotland by 4.69, that of Ireland had _decreased_ by 4.29 per cent! Yet, notwithstanding this, the railway traffic in Ireland, measured by receipts, had increased by 22 per cent., against England 31 and Scotland 36. In the number of pa.s.sengers carried the increase in Ireland was 29 per cent. In the same period the increase in the number of engines and vehicles in Ireland was 22, in England 30, and Scotland 33 per cent., whilst the number of train miles run (which is the real measure of the usefulness of railways to the public) had advanced 27 per cent. in Ireland, compared with 28 in England, and 30 in Scotland.

These figures indicate what Irish railways had accomplished in the decade ending with December, 1900, and betoken, I venture to affirm, a keen spirit of enterprise. These ten years had witnessed the introduction of breakfast and dining cars on the trains, of parlour cars, long bogie corridor carriages, the lighting of carriages by electricity, the building of railway hotels in tourist districts, the establishment of numerous coach and steamboat tours, the quickening of tourist traffic generally, the adoption of larger locomotives of greatly increased power, the acceleration of the train service, the laying of heavier and smoother permanent way, and a widespread extension of cheap fares--tourist, excursion, week-end, etc. It was a period of great activity and progress in the Irish railway world, with which I was proud and happy to be intimately connected. But what a return for all this effort and enterprise the Irish railway companies received--3 pounds 17s. 10d. per cent. on the whole capital expended, plus a liberal amount of abuse from the Press and politicians, neither of whom ever paused to consider what Ireland owed to her railways, which, perhaps, all things considered, was the best conducted business in the country. It, however, became the vogue to decry Irish lines as inefficient and extortionate, and a fashion once started, however ridiculous, never lacks supporters. The public, like sheep, are easily led. In England the average return on capital expended was 4 pounds 0s. 5d., and in Scotland 4 pounds 2s. 2d.

In the spring of 1901, Mr. W. H. Mills, the Engineer of the Great Northern Railway of Ireland, and I were entrusted by the Board of Works with an investigation into the circ.u.mstances of the Cork, Blackrock and Pa.s.sage Railway in regard to a proposed Government loan to enable the Company to discharge its liabilities and complete an extension of its railway to Crosshaven. It was an interesting inquiry, comprising a broken contract, the cost of completing unfinished works, the financial prospects of the line when such works were completed, and other cognate matters. A Bill in Parliament promoted by the Railway Company in the following year became necessary in connection with the loan, which after our Report the Government granted, and I had to give evidence in regard to it. In the same session I appeared also before two other Parliamentary Committees, so again I had a busy time outside the ordinary domestic duties pertaining to railway management.

On the first day of November, 1902, my good friend Walter Bailey and I started on a visit to Egypt. It, like Constantinople and Spain and Portugal, occupied more than the usual month's vacation, but as these extra long excursions were taken only every two or three years, and as it was never my habit to nibble at holidays by indulging in odd days or week- ends, my conscience was clear, especially as my Chairman and Directors cordially approved of my seeing a bit of the world, and readily granted the necessary leave of absence. As for Bailey, he always declared this Egyptian tour was the holiday of his life. To continue, we arrived in Cairo, _via_ Trieste and Alexandria, on the 10th. There we were met by Mr. Harrison, the general manager of Messrs. Thomas Cook and Son, and their princ.i.p.al dragoman, _Selim_, whom he placed during our stay in Cairo at our disposal. _Selim_ was a Syrian and the prince of dragomans; a handsome man, of Oriental dignity and gravity, arrayed in wonderful robes, which by contrast with our Occidental attire made Bailey and me feel drab and commonplace. At Cairo we stayed for eight days at Shepheard's Hotel, and under _Selim's_ guidance made good use of our time. On the ninth day we began a delightful journey up the Nile. Mr.

Frank Cook had insisted upon our being the guests of his firm on their tourist steamer _Amasis_.

My relations with Messrs. Thomas Cook and Son go back for many years, and with the Midland of England, my _Alma Mater_, the firm is, perhaps, more closely a.s.sociated than with any other railway. It was on the Midland system that, in 1841, its business began. In that year the founder of the firm, Mr. Thomas Cook, arranged with the Midland the first public excursion train on record. It ran from Leicester to Loughborough and back at a fare of one shilling, and carried 570 pa.s.sengers. This was the first small beginning of that great tourist business which now encircles the habitable globe. Mr. Thomas Cook was a Derbyshire man and was born in 1808. My father knew him well, often talked to me about him, and told me stories of the excursion and tourist trade in its early days. But I am digressing, and must return to Old Father Nile, who was in great flood. We saw him at his best. His banks were teeming with happy dusky figures and the smiling irrigated land was bright with fertility. Our journey to a.s.souan occupied eleven days, a leisurely progress averaging about two and a-half miles an hour. During the night we never steamed, the _Amasis_ lying up while we enjoyed quiet rest in the quietest of lands. Of course we visited all the famous temples and tombs, ruins and monuments, of ancient Egypt; and had many camel and donkey rides on the desert sands before reaching the first cataract. At Luxor, where we stayed for five days, we were pleasantly surprised at seeing Mr. Harrison and Mr. Warren Gillman come on board. The latter was Secretary of Messrs. Cook and Son's Egyptian business, and has, I believe, since risen higher in the service of the firm.

The great Dam at a.s.souan was just completed and we traversed its entire length on a trolley propelled by natives. a.s.souan detained us for four days; then, time being important, we travelled back to Cairo by railway.

Three more interesting days were pa.s.sed in the Babylonian city, then homewards we went by the quickest route attainable.

Whilst in Cairo and on our journey up the Nile, Bailey and I wrote, jointly, a series of seven articles on "Egypt and its Railways." These appeared in the _Railway News_ in seven successive weeks during December and January.

Our last hours in the land of the Pharaohs were filled with regret at having to leave it so soon. Said Bailey: "Cannot you, before we go, write a verse of Farewell?" So I composed the following:--

Egypt, farewell, and farewell Father Nile, Impenetrable Sphinx, eternal pile Of broad-based pyramid, and s.p.a.cious hypostyle!

Farewell Osiris, Anubis and Set, Horus and Ra, and gentle Meskenhet, Ye sacred G.o.ds of old, O must we leave you yet?

The mighty works of Ramesis the Great, Memphis, Karnak and Thebes a.s.severate The pomp and glory, Egypt, of your ancient state.

Bright cloudless land! Your skies of heavenly blue Bend o'er your fellaheen the whole day through; Night scarce diminishes their sweet celestial hue.

Realm of enchantment, break your mystic spell, Land of the lotus, smiling land farewell!

For ever it may be, what oracle can tell?

CHAPTER XXVII.

KING EDWARD, A CHANGE OF CHAIRMEN, AND MORE RAILWAY LEGISLATION

The memorable visit to Ireland of His Majesty King Edward, in the summer of 1903, which embraced all parts of the country, furnished I think no incident so unique as his reception in Connemara. On the morning of the 30th July the Royal Yacht anch.o.r.ed off Leenane, in Killery Bay, and His Majesty landed in Connaught. He was accompanied by Queen Alexandra and Princess Victoria. This was the first time, I believe, that the people west of the Shannon had seen their King, and whatever their politics, or aspirations were, he was certainly received with every manifestation of sincere good will. His genial personality and ingratiating _bonhomie_, his humanity, and his sportsmanlike characteristics, appealed at once to Irish instincts, and Connaught was as enthusiastic in its welcome as the rest of Ireland. The Royal party motored from Leenane to Recess, where they lunched at the Company's hotel, and where, of course, the Chairman, directors and chief officers of the railway, as well as local magnates, were a.s.sembled to a.s.sist in the welcome. On nearing Recess a surprise awaited the King. He was met by the "Connemara Cavalry," which escorted the Royal Party to the hotel and acted as bodyguard. Mr. John O'Loughlin, of Cashel, had organised this new and unexpected addition to His Majesty's Forces. It consisted of about 100 farmers, farmer's sons and labourers, of all ages from 18 to 80, mounted (mostly bareback) on hardy Connemara ponies. "Buffalo Bill" hats, decorated with the Royal colours or with green ribbon streamers, distinguished them from others.

It was a striking scene, unexpected, novel, unique; but quite in harmony with the surroundings and the wild and romantic scenery of Connemara and the Killeries. The King plainly showed his hearty appreciation. After lunch their Majesties visited the marble quarries, situated some three miles distant, and reached by a rough and rocky precipitous mountain road, for which motor cars were entirely unsuited. For this journey the marble quarry people had ordered a carriage and horses from Dublin, but which, by some unfortunate occurrence, had not turned up. Though the only carriage available in the neighbourhood was ill-suited for royalty, the King and Queen, good naturedly, made little of that. They were too delighted with the unmistakable warmth of their welcome to mind such a trifle. Again the "Cavalry" were in attendance and escorted the party to the quarries and back.

The Royal visit to Ireland, on the whole, was an unqualified success, and there were many who hoped and believed that the King's good will towards the country and its people, and his remarkable gifts as a peacemaker, would in some way help to a solution of the Irish question; but, alas!

that question is with us still, and when and how it will be solved no man can tell. For myself, I am one of those who indulge in _hope_, remembering that Time, in his healing course, has a way of adjusting human misunderstandings and of bringing about the seemingly impossible.

It was in this year (1903) that I first met Charles Dent, the present General Manager of the Great Northern Railway of England. He had been appointed General Manager of the Great Southern and Western Railway in succession to R. G. Colhoun. Dent and I often met. We found we could do good work for our respective companies by reducing wasteful compet.i.tion and adopting methods of friendly working. In this we were very successful. A man of few words, disdaining all unnecessary formalities, but getting quickly at the heart and essence of things, it was always a pleasure to do business with him.

In this year also I enjoyed some variety by way of an inquiry which I made for the Board of Works, concerning certain proposed light railway extensions, called the Ulster and Connaught, and which involved the ticklish task of estimating probable traffic receipts and working expenses--a task for which the gift of prophecy almost is needed. To determine, in this uncertain world, the future of a railway in embryo might puzzle the wisest; but, with the confidence of the expert, I faced the problem and, I hope, arrived at conclusions which were at least within a mile of the mark.

In 1904 that fine old railway veteran, Sir Ralph Cusack, resigned his position of Chairman of the Midland and was succeeded by the Honourable Richard Nugent, youngest son of the ninth Earl of Westmeath; Major H. C.

Cusack, Sir Ralph's nephew and son-in-law, becoming Deputy Chairman--the first (excepting for a few brief months in 1903 when Mr. Nugent occupied the position) the Midland ever had. With Sir Ralph's vacation of the chair, autocratic rule on the Midland, which year by year, had steadily been growing less, disappeared entirely and for ever. Well, Sir Ralph in his long period of office had served the Midland faithfully, with a single eye to its interests, and good wishes followed him in his retirement. Mr. Nugent was a small man, that is physically, but intellectually was well endowed. He had scholarly tastes and business ability in pretty equal parts. Movement and activity he loved, and, as he often told me, preferred a holiday in Manchester or Birmingham to the Riviera or Italian Lakes. He liked to be occupied, was fond of details, and possessed a lively curiosity. Sometimes he was thought, as a chairman, to err in the direction of too rigid economy, but on a railway such as the Midland, and in a country such as Ireland, economy was and is an excellent thing, and if he erred, it was on the right side. Truth, candour, courage and enthusiasm marked his character in a high degree.

Fearless in speech, the art of dissimulation he never learned. I shall not readily forget a speech he once made at the Railway Companies'

a.s.sociation in London. It was on an occasion of great importance, when all the princ.i.p.al companies of the United Kingdom were present. It was altogether unpremeditated, provoked by other speeches with which he disagreed, and its directness and courage--for it was a bold and frank expression of honest conviction, such as tells in any a.s.sembly--created some stir and considerable comment. Of plain homely mother-wit he had an uncommon share, and his mind was stored with quotations which came out in his talk with wonderful ease and aptness. A shrewd observer, his comments (always good-natured if critical) on his fellow men were worth listening to.

Our almost daily intercourse was intimate and frank. Sometimes we wandered into the pleasant fields of poetry and literature, but never to the neglect of business. He had an advantage that I greatly envied; a splendid memory; could repeat verse after verse, stanza upon stanza, whole cantos almost, from his favourite poet, Byron. It was at the half- yearly meetings of shareholders (they were held half-yearly in his day) that he specially shone, not in his address to them (for that he _would_ persist in reading) but in the after proceedings when the heckling began.

This, during his chairmanship, was often severe enough, for owing to unavoidably increased expenditure, dividends were diminishing and shareholders, in consequence, were in anything but complacent mood.

Question time always put him on his mettle. Then his mother-wit came out, his lively humour and practical common sense--all unstudied and natural. The effect was striking. Rarely did he fail in disarming criticism, producing harmony, and sending away dissentients in good temper, though some of them, I know, sometimes afterwards wondered how it came about that they had been so easily placated.

From 1903 to 1906 several Acts of Parliament affecting railways generally came into force, four of which were of sufficient importance to merit attention. The first, the _Railways (Electric Power) Act_, 1903, was a measure to facilitate the introduction and use of electrical power on railways, and invested the Board of Trade with authority to make Orders for that purpose, which were to have the same effect as if enacted by Parliament.

The second, the _Railway Fires Act_, 1905, was an Act to give compensation for damage by fires caused by sparks or cinders from railway engines, and increased the liability of railway companies. It _inter alia_, enacted that the fact that the offending engine was used under statutory powers should not affect liability in any action for damage.

Next came the _Trades Disputes Act_, 1906, a short measure of five clauses, but none the less of great importance; a democratic law with a vengeance! It is one of the four Acts which A. A. Baumann, in his recent book, describes as being "in themselves a revolution," and of this particular Act he says it "placed the Trade Unions beyond the reach of the laws of contract and of tort." It also legalised peaceful picketing, that particular form of persuasion with which a democratic age has become only too familiar.

Lastly, the _Workmen's Compensation Act_, of 1906, an Act to consolidate and amend the law with respect to compensation to workmen for injuries suffered in the course of their employment, is on the whole a beneficial and useful measure, to which we have grown accustomed.

In these years I had other holiday trips abroad; some with my family to France and Switzerland, and two with my friend, John Kilkelly. One of these two was to Denmark and Germany; the other to Monte Carlo and the Riviera. In Germany, at Altona, we saw the Kaiser "in shining armour,"

fresh from the autumnal review of his troops, though indeed I should scarcely say _fresh_, for he looked tired and pale, altogether different to the stern bronzed warrior depicted in his authorised photographic presentments which confronted us at every turn. Kilkelly was a busy, but never seemed an overworked man, due I suppose to some const.i.tutional quality he enjoyed. Added to a good professional business of his own, he was Solicitor to the Midland, Crown Solicitor for County Armagh, Solicitor to the Galway County Council, and, in _his leisure hours_, farmed successfully some seven or eight hundred acres. He had a fine portly presence, and though modesty itself, could not help looking as if he were _somebody_, like the stranger in London, accosted by Theodore Hook in the Strand, who was of such imposing appearance that the wit stopped him and said: "I beg your pardon, sir, but, may I ask, are you anybody in particular?"