RAIL STATIONS AND OFFICESGRAND TRUNK STATIONGRAND TRUNK OFFICESPLACE VIGER STATION
PROPOSED MONTREAL TERMINAL OF CANADIAN NORTHERNPROPOSED MONTREAL TERMINAL OF CANADIAN NORTHERN
PROPOSED MONTREAL TERMINAL OF CANADIAN NORTHERN
WINDSOR STREET STATIONWINDSOR STREET STATION
WINDSOR STREET STATION
In 1852 Mr. A.M. Ross, C.E., the engineer of the Victoria Bridge, came to Canada on behalf of English capitalists. He was met at Quebec by Sir John Young who took him to Montreal to inspect the locality for a bridge. Mr. Ross suggested an iron tubular bridge, took soundings and plans of the bridge as designed by him and returned in the fall.
Mr. Robert Stephenson, the consulting engineer, and a son of George Stephenson, the great railway pioneer, came to Montreal in 1853 and at a complimentary dinner, he said:
“I cannot sit down without referring to the all-important subject of a bridge over your magnificent river. Abundance of information was brought over to me in England by my esteemed friend, Ross, during the last visit he paid to that country so that I was able to get a good notion of what the bridge was to be before I came out here.
“I had been here twenty-five years before and the St. Lawrence seemed to be like the sea, and I certainly never thought of bridging it.” On the same occasion he said: “I assure you I appreciate your kindness most amply and one of the proudest days of my life will be that when I am called upon to confer with the engineers of the Grand Trunk Railway on bridging the St. Lawrence.”
The stone for the first pier of the Victoria Bridge was laid on July 22, 1854, by Sir. C.P. Roney, the first secretary of the Grand Trunk, along with Vice President Benjamin Holmes, Mr. James Hodge, the builder, Mr. A.M. Ross, C.E., the engineer, and other gentlemen who were also joined by Lady Roney, Mrs. Hodge and Mrs. Maitland, each taking the trowel and assisting in preparing the mortar board for the first stone in the first pier in the great construction. Of the enormous difficulties in building it and the danger by accidents, a dozen at least having been killed, we say nothing beyond that the contractors had to contend with a rapid stream two miles broad and with enormous shoves of ice.
One of those employed on the construction says: “There were hundreds of men employed—many of them being Indians. The latter manned the rafts that brought the timber down from Nun’s Island, although, of course, it came from the west, at the first go-off. We got our timber from the west and our stone from Pointe Claire.
“The first year’s work was entirely swept away. We had made good progress with the under work and the crib work.
“Hundreds of men had worked all spring, summer and fall. The work was well advanced and the contractors were congratulating themselves that they would be able to fulfill their contract on time; but the ice came down in the winter with a rush and carried everything before it—crib work, material, coffer dams—everything that had been done or set up. The loss was great, but the loss of time was the most important.
“That necessitated another year in the duration of the contract. The latter called for completion in five years. It was now seen that six would be required. But nobody could be blamed, and the contractors set to work with a will, and did the work over again.”
The first crossing was made on November 24, 1859, when the first to cross were Vice President Holmes, Hon. George Etienne Cartier, James Hodges, A. M. Ross, Walter Shanly, Messrs. Gzowski, Macpherson, Forsyth, Captain Rhodes and others. The last stone was laid and the last rivet driven on August 25, 1860, by the young Prince of Wales, afterward King Edward VII. On the occasion a grand banquet was held near the bridge, at which addresses were given by the Prince, the Duke of Newcastle, Mr. A.M. Ross, Mr. Hodges and others. To commemorate the event Mr. Blackwell had a medal prepared by the chief engineer of Her Majesty’s seals, a gold one of which was presented to the Prince and a bronze one to each of the officers of the Grand Trunk Railway.
It bears a fine impression in relief of the Prince as he then was, and the words, “Welcome Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. Visited Canada and inaugurated the Victoria Bridge, 1860.”
The first train with passengers traversed the bridge December 17, 1859.
This structure was 9,184 feet long, of twenty-three spans of 242 feet and one in the center of 330 feet.
Sir George Etienne Cartier, before being knighted, was asked by Queen Victoria at Windsor, “Mr. Cartier, I hear that the Bridge at Montreal is a very fine structure. How many feet is it from shore to shore?”
The reply was pleasing to Her Majesty. “When we Canadians build a bridge and dedicate it to Your Majesty we measure it, not in feet, but in miles!”
The difficulties connected with the building of the bridge were greater than they would be today. The facilities and the machinery necessary were comparatively crude and inadequate. The bridge itself was in the nature of an experiment; nor was it designed in the original plan, for a tubular bridge. The plans were altered several times during the progress of the work. It needed the genius of George Stephenson, which had to be invoked, to make the plan realizable.
But when the bridge was completed, it was almost instantly seen what a boon it was to the whole country. Trade began to pick up. Population increased. The Grand Trunk was extended. Towns began to grow, and this great enterprise, brought to a successful conclusion, encouraged other enterprises to follow.
It may be said that the building of the bridge brought out the first of the British immigrants. Here and there, there might have been a few, but the bridge opened up such possibilities of expansion as encouraged people to come out, and especially skilled men, who began to settle in the neighborhood of Point St. Charles, forming the nucleus of that population which, today, preserves the sturdy characteristics of the men who founded what was then a distinct colony. The building of the bridge meant the extension of the Grand Trunk shops, the giving of increased employment, and the setting up of a big town on the other side of the canal.
Before many years the growth of traffic called for the replacement of this dark tubular bridge by the present openwork steel bridge, with double tracks, carriage ways and foot walks which now stand on the piers which held the old bridge. The Royal Victoria Jubilee Bridge was opened for traffic on December 13, 1908.
The chief engineer of this bridge was Mr. Joseph Hobson, now consulting engineer of the Grand Trunk Railway System. The contractors were the Detroit Bridge and Iron Company for the whole of the superstructure and for the constructionof nineteen spans of it, including the center one. The remaining six spans were constructed by the Dominion Bridge Company of Montreal.
VICTORIA JUBILEE BRIDGE, MONTREALVICTORIA JUBILEE BRIDGE, MONTREALOpened for traffic December 13th, 1898
VICTORIA JUBILEE BRIDGE, MONTREAL
Opened for traffic December 13th, 1898
CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILROAD BRIDGE AT LACHINECANADIAN PACIFIC RAILROAD BRIDGE AT LACHINE
CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILROAD BRIDGE AT LACHINE
VICTORIA TUBULAR BRIDGE, MONTREALVICTORIA TUBULAR BRIDGE, MONTREALOpened for traffic by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, August 25th, 1860
VICTORIA TUBULAR BRIDGE, MONTREAL
Opened for traffic by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, August 25th, 1860
The masonry required for the enlargement of the abutments and piers was built by Mr. William Gibson.
The work was commenced in October, 1897, by the erection of the span on the west end, the structure being built completely around the tube of the old bridge, the latter being cleverly utilized as a roadway. Traffic never ceased except for twenty hours during the whole construction, the longest delay being two hours. The old bridge weighed 9,044 tons, the new 20,000 tons. The width of the old bridge was sixteen feet, the new one sixty-six feet eight inches. The height of the former superstructure was eighteen feet, that of the new superstructure over all is from forty to sixty feet. The new bridge ranks among the foremost constructions of present engineering progress.
On October 16, 1901, the son of Edward VII, the Duke of York, and Cornwall, now George V, visited the bridge with the Duchess, now his Queen.
Though the Grand Trunk Railway is the pioneer railroad of Canada, it was greatly assisted by English capitalists, although Montrealers played a prominent part.
THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY
The history and development of the Canadian Pacific Railway shows, however, a still closer connection with Montreal. The great line was born in this city, reared through an infancy of tremendous difficulties here, and has always, and probably will always, have its headquarters in this city. Though four of the original syndicate, J.S. Kennedy, of New York; J.J. Hill, of St. Paul; Morton Rose and Company, of New York, and Kohn Reinach, of Paris, were not citizens, yet the four others were good Montrealers, Lord Strathcona, then plain Donald A. Smith, Lord Mount Stephen, then George Stephen, Duncan McIntyre, and R.B. Angus, who, as faithful guardians, risked their very financial existence that it should become a strong, self-supporting institution, able to stand on its own legs. That their belief in the future of this splendidly virile institution was justified, everyone now realizes, but it is nevertheless a fact that the general opinion of some of the wisest of Canada’s wise men at the time of its commencement was that the C.P.R. would never be finished, or if it should crawl through its first few years of existence, it would never earn sufficient net profits to pay its bills for axle grease.
Born in the midst of political turmoil, pulled through a puling and precarious infancy only by tremendous personal sacrifice on the part of those responsible for its existence, this organization is now one of the leading corporations of the entire world, its ramifications reaching clear around the globe and its annual income counted in figures which stagger the mind of the average man.
The C.P.R. owes its tremendous success to the imagination of its sponsors, and to nothing else. When it was brought into being, the developed portion of Canada was well served by the Grand Trunk Railway and its connecting lines. There was no room for another railway among the established markets of what is now called Eastern Canada. But the men who created the C.P.R. out of their hopes and their belief in the future of the country, looked beyond the East.Between Ontario and the Pacific Coast, according to popular superstition at that time there lay nothing but trackless, ice bound wastes, of no value to man or beast, and cut off from the balmy climate of British Columbia by the impenetrable fastnesses of the Rocky Mountains. The original syndicate and their executive led by William Van Horne, the great constructive railroad genius of the nineteenth century, thought differently. For one thing they had already had experience of the possibilities of the Western United States, because of certain railroad transactions conducted by them in that territory, and they believed that the possibilities of Western Canada were every bit as great. Neither ridicule nor abuse could shake them from their determination, and they literally rammed their convictions down the throat of an only half willing Dominion Government, to what end we all know.
The project of a line connecting the railway system of Canada with the seaboard of British Columbia was one of the chief inducements held out to that province to enter into Confederation. At several periods between Confederation and the year 1880 the Dominion Government had before it very strong schemes for the construction of a transcontinental line, but none of them proved effective until what was known as the Canadian Pacific Syndicate finally entered into a definite contract in 1880 for the construction of the road. The financial arrangements were largely in the hands of the Montrealers already mentioned, George Stephen, Donald A. Smith, R.B. Angus, and Duncan McIntyre.
As the Macdonald Government allied itself with the C.P.R. proposals, the railroad was for some time classed by the public as a Tory organization, but for the last twenty years the C.P.R. has held itself aloof from all party politics. In the early days, however, it was not surprising that opponents were vehement in opposition. They condemned the scheme unsparingly, declaring that it would never pay expenses. Their predictions of ruin and disaster and the pessimistic attitude of influential parties in England, no doubt, led the Canadian Government to grant a larger aid to the enterprise in order to increase the chances of ultimate success. The company was incorporated in 1881. Its endowment consisted of 25,000,000 acres of land in western Canada and $25,000,000 in cash. It was also presented with some 700 miles of railway, which the Government had constructed at a cost of $35,000,000. The railway mileage taken over represented less than one-fourth of the amount necessary to connect Montreal and Vancouver. The cash subsidy of $25,000,000 represented considerably more than a cash subsidy of that amount would represent today, for thirty years ago a dollar in cash had a much larger purchasing power. With reference to the land grant, it can safely be said that, when the company was formed in 1881, few realized its value.
The names of two men must be connected with the successful fortunes of the company, William Van Horne, who was elected general manager, and Thomas Shaughnessy, appointed purchasing agent. Their humble offices were first in the Imperial Building, on St. James Street, opposite Place d’Armes Square. The general offices were next removed to Victoria Square, to the old Albert Building. Things did not progress in the early stages, but fine optimism marked these men.
At one of the early annual meetings there was great consternation. The small stockholders were alarmed and Mr. Donald McMaster spoke out indignantly for them. Then up rose Sir Donald Smith and said:
“Gentlemen: I would be a richer man today if I had never touched or seen the C P.R.; but I am not going to go back on it now. On the contrary, my faith, which has never wavered, is stronger than ever. I fully and unwaveringly believe in the C.P.R. I believe in its future. I believe that in a very short time, it will be the greatest earner in the Dominion of Canada. Mark my words. Retain your holdings. Do not give way to depression. The moment is unpropitious, owing to the general depression; but the clouds will lift; and you will be thankful, in the course of a year or so, that you held on to your stock.”
The bad times passed, the corporation turned the corner, the earnings increased. Lord Mount Stephen retired, Sir William Van Horne became president, Sir Thomas Shaughnessy became first assistant, then general manager, and finally president. David McNicoll moved up from assistant passenger agent to general passenger agent until he became manager and vice president.
One remarkable feature of the history of the C.P.R. is that no one of the men who financed the road in the beginning, has made anything like a big fortune out of it, in spite of the tremendous success which has crowned the undertaking. Lord Mount Stephen sold the three or four thousand shares he held in the company when he retired in 1885, at fifty-three. Lord Strathcona, of course, retained his connection with the line, and drew his dividends on the five thousand shares he held, but he did not make what might be even considered a reasonable return for the staking of his financial existence, and the same thing applies to other men who have directed the affairs of the company from time to time.
At the time of the incorporation of the road in 1881 the capital was $5,000,000. Today it is $200,000,000 and every cent of it needed to provide for the development of the corporation. In 1882 two stock issues totalling $60,000,000 worth of stock were made, to complete the road. Three years later, on November 7, 1885, Lord Strathcona drove the last spike and the road was officially opened, and its splendid history began.
In 1886 the gross earnings of the road were $8,368,493. In 1911 the gross earnings were $104,167,808, crossing the hundred million mark for the first time in the road’s history. This growth has continued in corresponding ratio, though partially effected by the international war of 1914.
In 1886 the mileage controlled by the C.P. R, was 4,315 miles. Its rolling stock in its principal divisions in 1886, was totalled as follows:
Locomotives, 336; freight cars, 7,835; no steamships.
In 1914, the line owned rolling stock as follows:
Locomotives, 2,248; freight cars, 88,000; first and second class passenger cars, baggage cars and colonist sleeping cars, 2,174; sleepers, dining and cafe cars, 502; conductors’ vans, 1,427; work cars, shovels, etc., 5,850.
The total mileage owned and controlled by the line, up to June 30, 1914, was 18,050 miles, and the passenger cars could move simultaneously 165,000 people.
In the course of its development, the C.P.R. has been extremely fortunate in being able to secure for its directorate men of broad vision. Thus it is that this railroad which is more than a railroad, and this corporation which is in operation an Empire Builder of the truest type, has found occasion in the course of its existence to put its energy to work in directions which the average railroad never dreams of. The scope of a great transcontinental railroad is wide enough in ordinary circumstances, but the policy of the C.P.R. has been to extend its activities in every direction where it appeared that the interests of the Dominion,which are indissolubly united with the interests of the road, might be advanced. In pursuance of this plan we get its immigration and land development policy, which is unique on the Continent.
One of the first notable efforts of the road in this direction was its aid to the cattle ranching industry in Alberta. By means of low rates and the special facilities offered by the line to cattle ranchers the great beef industry which founded the prosperity of Alberta was nurtured and developed until it grew to be a feature of Canada in the minds of uninitiated Old Country people, and to the regular impression of snow and Indians which prevailed in the average Englishman’s mind in the ’80s, was added the romantic idea of cowboys. After cattle, came wheat and here again the railroad aided the farmers in all possible directions, realizing that in the prosperity of the inhabitants of the territory which it served, lay its own future greatness.
In a thousand and one ways the great railroad has advanced the various interests of the West. Its splendid immigration organization has seconded the efforts of the Dominion Bureau in London. Each year at harvest time it transports tens of thousands of labourers from Eastern Canada to the West to help harvest its crops, and as an instance of the lengths to which the road is prepared to go in order to advance the interests of the great community from which it draws the greater part of its wealth, there may be taken the case of the Winnipeg water scheme.
Some years ago the City of Winnipeg desired to install an expensive plant to improve its water supply. The undertaking was a huge one, planned to meet the needs of the rapidly growing city for many years to come and the cost was heavy. The C.P.R. donated $200,000 to help defray the expenses, and Winnipeg was duly provided with a water supply which cannot be bettered on the Continent.
The Company’s various interests, outside of its straight railroad work, would make by themselves a huge undertaking for any ordinary commercial organization. It owns coal, copper, lead, and gold mines, big smelting plants in British Columbia and enough timber limits to make any lumber company in the Dominion envious. The hotel section of the Company’s operations, originally planned to provide accommodation for passengers where such accommodation did not exist, have extended until they are a material factor in the Company’s wealth.
The Company’s tremendous land holdings in the West are regarded by many financial experts as its most powerful asset. When these grants were made, or at least such of them as were made to the Company in return for its services in opening up what was then regarded as a barren and trackless waste, it is not likely that anyone, not even excepting the directors themselves, realized the value of the grants. Since the original grants were made other valuable and extensive land areas have been acquired through the purchase of other railways which owned land grants. Altogether the Company now owns over seven million acres of land in Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan and nearly four and a half million acres in British Columbia. These lands have steadily increased in value as the railroad itself developed the country. In 1905 the sales were 509,386 acres at an average of $4.80 per acre. In 1909 the sales of these same lands were 306,083 acres at an average of $10.96. In 1910 the inrush of settlers from the United States and Great Britain served to increase the demand for the C.P.R. lands and 829,609 acres of the unimproved lands sold at $12.78 per acre along with 145,421acres of irrigated lands at $26.59 per acre. And in 1911, the sales of unimproved land were 631,777 acres at the average of $14.11; and of irrigated lands 19,097 acres were sold at the very satisfactory average of $33.63 per acre. This progressive rise in value is most impressive. Every year without exception shows an increase, and in some years the increase is considerable. It is to be remembered, too, that when the company sells a parcel of land to a good farmer-settler it is just beginning its profitable relations with him. For he will in all probability be a heavy shipper of grain outward over its lines in future years, and he will occasion the shipment of much merchandise inward as well.
The latest and perhaps the greatest work which the C.P.R. has undertaken in connection with its land holdings, is its irrigation scheme, which has transformed nearly one and a half million acres of barren land into fertile farm country, at an outlay of over $15,000,000. The rounding out of the irrigation scheme involves the bringing of the best class of farmers from the United Kingdom or the United States and planting them in the Canadian West, on farms which are “ready made” for them. Demonstration farms are provided to show the best methods of working the land, and everything possible is done to ensure the success of the newcomers’ enterprise. In this manner and by the sale of similar farms to residents of the United States desirous of settling in Canada, the C.P.R. in its latest undertaking is perhaps doing more than ever before to provide Canada with her most pressing need, sturdy self-reliant citizens, and so furthering the cause of Imperial unity which has been the guiding spirit of this splendid enterprise ever since those four Montrealers dreamed their dream of a new Empire plucked from the barren expanse of the Last Great West.
Of the C.P.R. steamship line we speak in its proper place. For the C.P.R. railroad and its attendant enterprises on land, there appears to be an almost limitless future. A rough estimate of the value of its railroad, shipping and hotel systems would not be far wrong if placed at $885,000,000. What the C.P.R. will be doing this time ten years from now, who shall say? With the inspiration of so glorious a past behind them, who can set a limit on the possibilities which will open up for the new rulers of the road’s destinies? The All Red Line so greatly discussed some years ago as a government project already exists in the C.P.R. It is possible to board a C.P.R. train at Windsor Street and to circle the globe, never leaving the sphere of influence of this tremendous organization. A splendid result surely to be attained by the little quartette of dreamers whose idea of a railroad line of Atlantic to Pacific met with so scornful a reception when it was first mooted a bare forty years ago.
THE INTERCOLONIAL RAILWAY
The Intercolonial Railway, which runs from Montreal to Halifax, and the two Sydneys, claims the distinction of being a successful government-owned railroad.
It was originally the North American and European Railroad, which was taken over by the government over half a century ago. There were at that time only about fifty miles of railway. This has been added to from time to time, until the road is now a very considerable one in size and importance. It travels through some of the finest scenery in Canada, and does a heavy tourist business,the sporting country it touches being famous the world over. It is connected with all the big Atlantic seaports, and has grain elevators at St. John, N.B.
The actual trackage owned by the Intercolonial extends westward only as far as St. Rosalie Junction. From there to Montreal the trains have running rights over the Grand Trunk tracks.
The Intercolonial is of importance to Montreal in supplying the means of communication to Halifax during the season of closed navigation.
THE CANADIAN NORTHERN RAILWAY
The Canadian Northern first reached Montreal under the name of the Great Northern Railway of Canada. Its history of the few years preceding is full of interest. Its success has been due to the financial and business ability of two Canadians, Sir William Mackenzie and Sir Donald Mann.
What is now the Canadian Northern Railway had its inception in December, 1906, when the Lake Manitoba Railway and Canal Company built one hundred miles of track between Gladstone and Dauphin, Manitoba, and ran trains over it. The line was a success from its inception, and next year Mackenzie and Mann, famous partners, built under the name of the Manitoba and South Eastern Railway, a line out of Winnipeg running in the direction of Lake Superior. The purchase of the Port Arthur, Duluth & Western line completed the entrance into Port Arthur. The lines of the Northern Pacific Railway in Manitoba were taken over by the Manitoba Government and leased to the Canadian Northern for a period of 999 years, which gave them terminal facilities in Winnipeg and connections to the International Boundary. In 1901, the company which started with one hundred miles of track and a payroll of $650 a month found itself owning and operating 1,200 miles of line and carrying 12,000,000 bushels of grain to the head of navigation at Port Arthur. Extensions to Edmonton and through the valley of the Saskatchewan were planned and the whole huge enterprise bloomed forth one fine morning as the Canadian Northern Railway.
The rapid expansion of this comparatively insignificant railway into a force to be reckoned with when discussing the growth of Western Canada in the short space of five years made even the optimistic Westerners sit up and take notice, but the activities of the two Scotch Ontarians did not stop here. By 1905 the new line had reached Edmonton, having built four bridges across the Saskatchewan River to get there, while in the same year Prince Albert was reached by way of the Swan River and Carrot River valleys. On the way across, the C.N.R. made a city out of Edmonton. When the line was first projected the town had something like 3,000 people. Today it has 45,000 and is still growing.
Saskatoon, Regina and Calgary quickly linked into the chain until the Canadian Northern line west of the Great Lakes had a total mileage of 5,000 miles. Construction joining Vancouver with Edmonton is now being pushed rapidly to completion through the Yellowhead Pass, and the Thompson and Fraser River valleys and will be open for traffic in 1915. Construction is also going on in Ontario which will link Montreal and Ottawa together in a direct line with Port Arthur and the West, the line between Toronto and Ottawa having been opened in January, 1914, making a total mileage of 7,800 for the system at the end of 1914.
The history of the Canadian Northern’s activities in Montreal, still fresh in the minds of our readers, gives a fair index of the spirit in which this line is conducted and managed. The C.N.R. desired an entrance to Montreal for its main line. It was vital that the terminal should be central. Accordingly, the property on Lagauchetiere Street was purchased and a freight terminal at the Haymarket.
So when it was pointed out that Mount Royal stood serene between the C.N. R. line and the C.N.R. terminal, the answer came back: “Run a tunnel through it.” And accordingly, the Montreal Tunnel is now being bored.
Typical also of the whole enterprise is the creation of the new model city of Mount Royal. Obviously a lot of open farm land at the northern entrance to the tunnel promised no profit for the C.N.R. So they bought the land and sold it again in building lots, and just as soon as the first electrical locomotive pulls the first C.N.R. passenger train through the Mount Royal tunnel there will be a new suburb—residences, and shops, and postoffice—all complete ready to feed business into this train and into the thousands which will follow. Of the Canadian Northern steamships mention is made elsewhere.
The other railways mentioned as coming into Montreal, do so on running rights with one or other of the above mentioned railroads.
FOOTNOTES:
1Mr. Keefer’s name has not been sufficiently connected with those of Ross and Stephenson.
1Mr. Keefer’s name has not been sufficiently connected with those of Ross and Stephenson.
TRANSPORTATION BY ROAD
I
THE ANCIENT AND MODERN POSTAL SERVICE OF MONTREAL
ANCIENT ROADS—THE “GRAND VOYER”—GOOD ROADS MOVEMENT—THE EVOLUTION OF ROADS—“POST” MASTERS RECOGNIZED IN 1780—THE EARLY POSTAL SYSTEM OF MONTREAL AND BENJAMIN FRANKLIN—BURLINGTON THE TERMINUS—EARLY LETTER RATES—MAIL ADVERTISEMENTS—THE QUEBEC TO MONTREAL POSTAL SERVICE—EARLY POSTOFFICE IN MONTREAL—OCEAN AND RAILWAY MAIL SERVICE—THE PRESENT POSTOFFICE—ITS HISTORICAL TABLETS BY FLAXMAN—THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE POSTAL SYSTEM—THE POSTMASTERS OF MONTREAL.
The question of the transportation of the mails and the origin of the Montreal postal services makes some prefatory remarks on the road system necessary. The early roads were under the Grand Voyer of the province, a sort of surveyor general who had deputies “sous voyers” and surveyors under him. The roads were divided into three classes: (1)Chemins Royaux—post roads or “front” roads, the soil of which belonged to the crown; these generally traversed the “front” of the seignories. (2)Chemins de Ceinture et de Traverse—or back roads, the soil of which belonged to the seigneurs. These ran in the rear and parallel with the royal roads. (3)Chemins de Sortie et de Communications—called also “routes” and by-roads. These were crown roads connecting those in front and rear, also banal roads which were those leading to the seigneury mill.
The office of Grand Voyer was held as early as 1669 by Sieur de Bécanour. It had almost despotic power. This continued until 1832, when his powers were transferred to the road commissioners. In 1841 the roads came under the municipality. The condition of the early roads to Montreal and in Canada were deplorable, and Carleton was compelled to enforce the “individual responsibility” of proprietors and tenants to keep the post roads in repair. These roads were thirty feet wide and the cross roads maintained by joint labor were twenty feet wide. It was not until Sydenham’s time that much improvement was effected, owing to the passive resistance of the French-Canadian to enforced labour. By 1850 good roads ran over the Province in all directions. Not all of them were well made, but most of them were useable for stage traffic which had greatly increased.
The evolution of the Canadian roads (1) the bridle road, (2) the winter road,(3) the corduroy road, (4) the common or graded roads, (5) the turnpike, macadam, gravel and plank is as follows:
The bridle roads were made solely for the use of horsemen, before carriages had been introduced into the more unsettled parts of the country. By their aid the people found their way to religious ceremonies and transported their grain on pack horses to the neighbouring villages. They were made simply by clearing away the branches and trunks of trees so as to allow a horse to pass through the bush.
The winter roads were very important. The Canadian winter with its snow and frost was a blessing to the farmer, giving him a firm, smooth road over which heavy loads could be drawn with ease. Most of the heavy freight was not moved until the winter unless the water routes were accessible. It was in the cold weather that the lumbermen and builders transported their supplies and the farmer carried his crops to market.
The “corduroy” roads were made by placing tree trunks side by side and consequently could be constructed only where there was an abundance of timber. As these trees decayed with time and moisture the roads required constant repair and a great amount of valuable timber was wasted. It was not an uncommon thing for one of these roads to be destroyed in a single season by frost. In many places they actually delayed progress, as they were used as an excuse for delaying the construction of more durable highways. At their best they were rough, very slow and damaging to vehicles, “any attempt at speed being checked by immediate symptoms of approaching dissolution in the vehicle.” The effect on the driver and his passengers appears to have been equally disastrous, the “poor human frame being jolted to pieces.”
The common or graded roads were marked out by fences in the more settled and open districts, and in the woods by wide clearings. They were properly drained and bridged and an attempt was made to reduce steep hills. Although they did not possess an artificial road-bed, they were very serviceable except for the heaviest traffic. Their construction was expensive, however, as they were laid out in straight and direct lines with the idea of overcoming rather than going around obstacles in their path.
In the more settled parts of Canada the construction of the turnpike with its artificial road-bed began with the opening of the nineteenth century. The materials composing the road-bed varied. Gravel was used where convenient. In many districts plank roads were used after the Union, but unless they rested on a bed of sand were a failure owing to the expense of the frequent necessary renewals. The most satisfactory road-bed was of macadam, although in many places Canadian traffic was not heavy enough thoroughly to consolidate the materials used in its construction. The best roads of this kind were those outside of Montreal and Quebec. In Upper Canada the turnpikes were controlled by joint stock companies in the main and were kept in a miserable condition.
Before the War of 1812 the four principal roads in the provinces followed the routes taken later by the railways. The first, connecting Lower Canada with the Maritime Provinces, began at Point Levis, running thence to Temiscouata, whence it ran to Fredericton which it connected with St. John, terminating at Halifax, after traversing a total distance of 718 miles.
The second road followed the route taken later by the Grand Trunk and GreatWestern Railways, running from Quebec via Montreal, Coteau-du-lac and Cornwall, to Kingston and thence to York. From York it ran to Michillimackinac by way of Fort Erie and Detroit, a total distance of 1,107 miles.
The purpose of the third road, which ran from Montreal to the international boundary line en route to Boston, was later accomplished by the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railway. The other road twenty-eight miles long connected La Prairie wtih Isle-aux-Noix.
On these roads the conveyances were the calèche and the post chaise. The charge was high, varying from six and one-half cents upward per mile. The first stages in Upper Canada, running between Queenstown and Fort Erie, charged four cents per mile. The original rate from Kingston to York by stage was $18.00 more than the present return first class fare from Montreal to Toronto. The fare between York and Niagara was $5.00. On the roads near Montreal and Quebec moderate rates were charged and a considerable traffic maintained. In the Upper Province however the roads were controlled by Companies who not only charged excessive tolls but kept the roads in poor condition.
Maitres de Poste, or postmasters, were first recognized by law in 1780 and some half a dozen ordinances and acts were passed in their favour or to control them between that date and 1819, when their privilege ceased. The distance between Montreal commonly called sixty leagues was divided into twenty-four stages. The “Maitres de Poste” were obliged to keep fourcalèchesand fourcarioles. They had the exclusive right of passenger traffic by land, charging twenty to twenty-five cents per league—twelve to fifteen dollars the journey between Quebec and Montreal. Benjamin Franklin when deputy postmaster general of North America in 1766 stated before a committee of the house of commons that the only post road then in Canada was between Montreal and Quebec. The origin of the postal system of Montreal dates from 1763 and is due to the enterprise of Benjamin Franklin, who was then holding an important position in the postal department of the American colonies. Franklin, on hearing that the treaty of Paris had definitely made Canada a sister colony, without waiting for official sanction hurried thither although a man of fifty-seven years of age, not fearing the hardships of the wild journey. In his diary he records that in the spring of 1763 he set out on a tour of inspection of the northern districts under his control and did not stop until he visited Quebec and Montreal where he opened postoffices and arranged for a weekly courier between these towns and New York. His prompt action was afterwards appreciated by the postmaster general of England.
It is difficult to locate the position of the “village” postoffice established by Franklin. The postal communication thus commenced between Canada and the American colonies continued except for a break during the war of 1775 till the colonies had obtained their independence. In November, 1783, a few months after the treaty of peace, mails were restored between England and Canada through the medium of the new postal office at Burlington. This latter now became the terminus of the Canadian courier service. In 1792 the first postal convention between Canada and the United States benefited Montreal, although it was stipulated that the transmission of letters should be by United States fast mail packets and land service by Burlington.
Letters were carried by the packets at four cents from Great Britain to New York, then twenty cents added for the journey to Burlington, with the furthercharge of twenty cents on to Quebec and twenty cents more was demanded for the further journey through Canada. A letter would then have cost Montrealers about forty-four cents and that only if it consisted of a single sheet of paper and weighed less than an ounce. Above that, the price was quadrupled. A letter that today cost two cents1from Liverpool then cost about a dollar and sixty-four cents. But if the British postal service had been used a letter under one ounce would have cost ninety-two cents and above the ounce $3.64.
An advertisement was put in the Montreal papers in 1797 on the 18th of June. “A mail for the upper countries, comprehending Niagara and Detroit will be closed at the office on May 30th at 4 o’clock in the evening to be forwarded from Montreal by the annual winter express on Thursday, 3d February next.” In 1809 an advertisement of this year states, “A passenger may go from Boston to Montreal, a distance of 312 miles, in four days and a half. This line is furnished with the new and convenient stages, good horses and careful drivers.” But the irregularity and slowness of the service in Canada itself called forth loud protests from many merchants who were forced to employ private runners to carry their mail. In 1811 Mr. George Heriot, then Post-Master General, investigated these complaints and his report is descriptive of local conditions:—“The mail is carried from New Brunswick and vice versa by two couriers, one setting out from Quebec and the other from Fredericton once a month in winter and once a fortnight in summer. The distance is 361 miles; the cost of conveying the mails £240. There is one courier once a week between Fredericton and St. John, N.B., eighty-two miles at a cost of £91.5s. There are two packets weekly across the Bay of Fundy between St. John and Digby, 36½ miles at £350. There is one courier twice a week between Digby and Annapolis, twenty miles, and one courier between Annapolis and Halifax once a week, 133½ miles. From the commencement of the present year a communication by post has been opened from Montreal to Kingston. The courier goes once a fortnight and has a salary of £100. A post to York is proposed for six months or during the close of navigation. The post between Quebec and Montreal is despatched twice a week from each of those towns. Eight pence is charged for postage on a single letter from Quebec to Montreal. There are on the road between Quebec and Montreal about twenty-seven persons whose houses are seven or eight miles distant from each other and who keep four or five horses each, not of the best description, and small vehicles with two wheels of a homely and rude construction hung upon bands of leather or thongs of unmanufactured bull’s hide by way of springs. They will with much difficulty contain two persons in front of which a man or boy is placed to guide the horse. The rate at which they go when the roads are favourable is not much more than six miles an hour. The roads are generally in a very bad state as no proper measures are taken for their repair.”
The mail system of that time was a part of the English postal service and the province had no voice in the matter. About 1815-1816 according to Borthwick, “The Montreal postoffice was a room about twelve feet square in St. Sulpice Street near St. Paul. There were no letter boxes; it was all ‘general delivery’ in its crudest form. The few letters laid scattered on a table and had all to be looked at at each application at the door. Very few letters came or went. The mail to UpperCanada was weekly and the seven days’ collection could be contained in one small mailbag. That to Quebec was oftener and larger. The English mail carried in sailing vessels arrived during the summer at periods of from a month and a half to three months apart. In winter it came by New York and was longer on the way. Postage was very dear, about 9d. to Quebec and 5d. to St. Johns, 1s. 6d. to western parts of Canada and 1s. 6d. to lower provinces.
“In 1820 there appeared in the various newspapers an official advertisement signed by a member of the English postal service giving a list of reduced rates between Canada and many foreign countries. The postage on a letter to the various countries of western Europe varying from 3s. 10d. to 4s. 4d. There were no money letters for indeed there was no money in the form convenient for sending thus. A recipient of a letter paid all the postage except in cases when it crossed the United States boundary, when the sender paid as far as the line. There was much private mail carrying, both for pay and free. Anyone traveling to the United States or Upper Canada was expected to fill half his baggage with letters and various articles to persons there.” About 1840 the postoffice at Montreal was at the southwest corner of St. James street and St. Lambert’s Hill.
Montreal and Quebec geographically being some hundreds of miles nearer European ports than New York and Boston, Canadians began on the success of the steam navigation to desire to handle their own mails directly, and on the foundation of the Allan Line in 1856 this was put to practice by fortnightly trips until 1859. In 1859 the Allan Line contracted for a weekly mail to and from Montreal and Quebec in the summer and Portland, Maine, in the winter. Thus began the ocean mail service to us, now so largely developed. The opening of the railway era also assisted the postal facilities. The next location of the postoffice at Montreal was the building constructed in Place d’Armes on the site of the present Banque Provinciale. It was followed by a new location on the southwest corner of St. Francois Xavier and St. James streets, to be followed in 1876 by the present imposing edifice on the corner of St. Francois Xavier and St. James streets, with the equally large annex erected later and situated on Craig and St. Francois Xavier streets. The Montreal postoffice is of proportionate size and efficiency to that of any of the great cities of the world.
The site of the present postoffice is historic and the following tablet has been recently placed to explain the four artistic bas reliefs on the exterior which commemorate it.
JOHN FLAXMAN