CHAPTER XLI

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 Great Western 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 four _calèches_ and four _carioles_. 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 further charge 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 cents[1] from 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 Upper Canada 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

Author of these bas reliefs and GREATEST OF BRITISH SCULPTORS was born at York, England, July 6th, 1755. Designed the classical groups on wedgewood-ware. Made a great reputation in Italy. Was the first professor of sculpture at the Royal Academy. Executed the monuments of Burns, Kemble, Mansfield and Paoli in Westminster Abbey, Sir Joshua Reynolds in St. Paul’s, and illustrations of ancient Greek poets. He was elected a Royal Academician in 1800, and died December the 7th, 1826.

These bas reliefs were part of the facade of the building erected on this site for the Bank of Montreal in 1821; later on occupied by La Banque du Peuple from 1846 until 1873 and also of that now occupied by the General Post Office since 1876.

The subjects of the bas reliefs are:--

AGRICULTURE, MANUFACTURERS, ARTS, COMMERCE.

The Montreal postoffice has had under its control for many years subsidiary district postoffices as the growth of population demanded them. In 1900 there were only twenty sub-offices. Today there are ninety-four stations. Its growth can be seen from a few facts.

City Mail: In 1900 there were only 180 letter boxes and ten for newspapers. In 1910 they amounted to 350 and 142 respectively. In 1914 there are 562 letter boxes and 235 news boxes.

English and foreign mail: In 1900 the English mailbags received via New York were from thirty-three to forty-three. In 1910 the number was increased from seventy-five to one hundred. The Canadian steamers bring in at present from 200 to 235 bags. The Compagnie Generale Trans-Atlantique, which brought in ten to fifteen bags now brings forty to sixty. The German line adds seventy to eighty, and there are in addition thirty from other sources.

The directors or postmasters of Montreal have been:

1. 1763-1810 Edward William Gray. He combined the offices of sheriff and postmaster. 2. 1810-1816 F.W. Ermatinger, merchant of Montreal. 3. 1816-1827 James Williams. 4. 1827-1840 Andrew Porteous, dismissed by Lord Sydenham for delaying his Excellency’s courier. 5. 1841-1855 James Porteous. 6. 1855-1861 Jean Baptiste Meilleur. 7. 1861-1874 G.S. Freer. 8. 1874-1891 G. Lamothe. 9. 1891-1899 Arthur Dansereau. 10. 1899-1904 Cleophas Beausoleil. 11. 1904-1911 Henry S. Harwood, ex-M.P. for Vaudreuil. 12. 1911- Hon. L.O. Taillon, Ex-Premier Province of Quebec, and for a time postmaster general of Canada. (L.J. Gaboury in charge of the Eastern division.)

II

STREET TRANSPORTATION

MODERNIZING MONTREAL

MONTREAL IN 1861--THE STREET RAILWAY MOVEMENT--THE “MONTREAL CITY PASSENGER RAILWAY COMPANY” CHARTERED--THE HISTORY OF THE COMPANY--ITS FIRST PROMOTERS--EIGHT PASSENGER CARS, SIX MILES, HORSE SERVICE IN 1861--THE OPENING UP OF THE STREETS--WINTER SERVICE OF SLEIGHS--1892 THE BEGINNING OF ELECTRIC ERA--THE CONVERSION OF THE SYSTEM INTO ELECTRIC TRACTION--THE GRADUAL GROWTH OF THE COMPANY.

Half a century ago no one in his wildest imaginings could have prophesied the amazing growth of the Canadian Metropolis. In 1861, Montreal had a population of but 91,000 and with its suburbs 101,439. It was practically the ancient Montreal, which had scarcely outgrown the days when it was a fortified city crowded within walls to resist the incursions of hostile Iroquois. The city was bounded on the north by the old creek at Craig Street, and did not extend west of Victoria Square.

Today Montreal with its suburbs has a population of approximately 600,000, while the streets which marked its limits fifty years ago are the centre of the downtown business district. Thus within a scant half century the population of Montreal has much more than multiplied five times over, its street mileage has increased in even greater proportion, while practically the whole city has been remodeled and modernized.

They were men of courage and far-sighted ideas who in 1861 decided that the time had come when Montreal needed a street railway. The population was small, business was a mere fraction of that transacted today, and as forbidding as could be found in any city in the world.

But these difficulties did not discourage the founders of the Montreal Street Railway, who had ample belief in the future development of the city, and its consequent opportunities for street railway work. They builded more wisely than they knew however, and could William Molson, John Ostell, William Dow, Johnston Thompson and William Macdonald, the original directors of the company, return to Montreal, attend a meeting of directors at the board room in the Company’s handsome building on Craig Street, and then make a tour of the city in one of their magnificent modern electric cars, they would probably be lost in wonder and admiration. The company they founded used horses. Stables were its power stations, and in winter the service was kept up by sleighs, and in the late fall and early spring by omnibuses. They started with six miles of track, eight cars, a few horses and one stable. To-day they would return to an electric system with hundreds of miles of track extending all over the city and suburbs, huge power stations, an army of uniformed, well paid and cared for employes, and many hundreds of cars which are not merely modern, but so far in advance of the times that the greatest cities of the United States and the world are paying tribute by the adoption of the same style of cars for their service.[2]

The Montreal Street Railway was born with little ceremony, or anything else to mark the beginning of a new epoch for Montreal when, on May 18th, 1861, the Provincial Legislature adopted a law incorporating the Montreal City Passenger Railway Company “for the purpose of constructing and operating street railways in the City and Parish of Montreal.” The provisional directors named in the act of incorporation were William Molson, John Ostell, William Dow, Johnston Thompson, William Macdonald, John Carter, Hon. Thos. Ryan and William E. Phillips. All these have long since passed away, although they lived to see the riper fruition of the works they planned.

On August 9th of the same year a meeting of the subscribers was held at the “Mechanics’ Hall,” at which the following were present:--

William Molson, Thomas Molson, Hon. Judge Gale, Hon. L.H. Molson, William Macdonald, E.M. Hopkins, William McLaren, Charles Garth, J.H. Springle, G. Weaver, William Dow and John Ostell. At this meeting J.H. Springle was appointed the first secretary of the Company.

On August 17th, another meeting was held, at which Alex. Easton was awarded the contract for building the first section of road, comprising six miles of single track, and an equipment of eight passenger cars, a stable and car shed. This may be called the first attempt at modernizing Montreal.

Work was started in September, ground being broken on the 18th, for the line from St. Mary Street, near the Quebec toll gate, and considerable progress made. The arrangement was that Mr. Easton should build the line and operate it for a time under lease. By November 27th, 1861, part of the line was sufficiently advanced to be opened. The road met with immediate success, and was well patronized, although the service, naturally, was slow and the cars infrequent.

Matters having progressed thus far a meeting of the directors was held on November 5th, 1861, when the Company’s stock books were ordered closed, 2,500 shares having been subscribed for at $50 a share, representing a capital of $125,000. Another meeting was held on the next day, when the following were appointed directors: Thomas Morland, E.M. Hopkins, G.W. Weaver, E.S. Freer and John Ostell. Thomas Morland was elected president.

In the following year construction work was continued, and by June 10th, 1862, a line had been completed from Place D’Armes on Notre Dame Street westward, connecting with St. Joseph Street. This was equipped with three horse cars.

On this same day the Company declared its first dividend, at the encouraging rate of 12% per annum for the first year.

On July 4th, 1862, the Company terminated the lease with the contractor, and took over the actual operation of the road, with considerable profit, the earnings far exceeding the lease price.

At this time the head office of the Company was in a small building at the corner of Craig and Place d’Armes, owned by Rev. Mr. Toupin, but in 1863 the Company moved to Hochelaga. But shortly afterwards the head office of the Company was again at Place d’Armes Hill and Craig Street and remained there until 1894 when the present Street Railway Chambers were erected. Thus it may be said that the head office of the Company has been situated at the corner of Place d’Armes Hill and Craig Street since the incorporation of the Company. The terminus of the line was then Hochelaga and the Company spent $300 on an omnibus to connect the cars with the convent. The service in the city was, of course, only a day one, and the cars were pretty far apart. But even then the demands of the service on Craig and St. Antoine streets was such that improvements to the tracks were needed so as to permit of a more frequent service on these streets.

The advantage of the car line was so much appreciated by the public that in this year, 1863, the Company applied to the city for power to build lines on the following streets:--

Commencing at Papineau Avenue, along St. Catherine to Mountain Street with a line in St. Lawrence Street to the Toll Gate to connect with that now constructed on Craig Street, also commencing at St. Joseph Street along McGill Street to Wellington, to the Bridge and possibly to Point St. Charles.

During 1863 the Company carried 1,066,845 passengers, scarcely 1 per cent of the number carried to-day. It was regarded, however, as an excellent showing, and the Company started to build six miles more track, along Wellington, St. Catherine and St. Lawrence streets. The contract for this work was let to Messrs. Plunkett and Brady.

By May 1864 the St. Catherine line was finished, and opened, while eleven additional cars had to be placed on the Notre Dame Street route. Even the track difficulties were felt, and the line on McGill Street had to be renewed.

By the end of 1864 St. Catherine, St. Lawrence and Wellington street lines, comprising 5¾ miles, had been opened, and all proved revenue producers except the last. During that year 1,485,725 passengers had been carried, an increase of about a half a million for the year. In view of the progress made it was decided to issue more stock at par to the old shareholders. At this time the capital stock of the Company was $200,000.

The winter service was being kept up by sleighs, the tracks and appliances preventing the cars from running. The Company had eight sleighs at this time, with five more being built. There were no heating appliances, and in order to keep the passengers warm each sleigh was provided with about a foot of pea straw, in which the people buried their cold feet.

During the early days the cars were run in a rather happy-go-lucky fashion. Time was of little object. The cars would stop anywhere to take up passengers, and if one wanted to get off and talk to a friend or do a little shopping, the obliging conductors would wait and give their horses a rest. But the demands of business were getting too much for this, and in June, 1865, the board decided that in future the cars should not be stopped to allow passengers to go into stores and make purchases and return again, because this kept other passengers waiting.

It was found that the wages paid were too high, and in August, 1865, conductors were reduced from $30 to $25 a month. The conductors petitioned for a return to their old pay of $1 a day, but this was refused, and the Directors reduced the pay of drivers from $25 to $20 a month. At this time Mr. J.H.R. Molson found he had not time to attend to his duties as vice-president, and resigned.

In 1870 the Company celebrated its tenth birthday by issuing $10,000 of new stock pro rata to the old shareholders, and in 1873 $200,000 more was allotted at par.

For many years matters went along smoothly and quietly until the twenty-sixth annual meeting, in 1886, when an event occurred which subsequently meant a good deal for the Company, although little noticed at the time. This was the election of the present president, Hon. L.J. Forget, as a director. The board of directors was as follows:--

Jesse Joseph, president; Alex. Murray, vice-president, Dr. W.H. Hingston, Hugh McLennan, and L.J. Forget.

During all this time the mileage of the Company had not increased very greatly, only amounting to 12½ miles by 1892, although St. Denis Street had been double tracked in 1891. At this time the Company was operating eighty-two regular sleighs during the winter season.

The year, 1892, however, marked the most important period in the Company’s history, the beginning of the electric era, which has produced such wonderful results in the past two decades.[3] It was not without violent opposition that the subject was discussed. Several directors supported by many of the shareholders declared that the thing was impossible and would ruin the Company, and some of the directors even went to the length of resigning rather than countenance such a project. So if the first directors of the Company, in 1861, were men of courage and enterprise, how much more so were those who backed up the change to electricity in face of the great cost and doubtful outcome.

At the adjourned special meeting of Tuesday, May 17th, 1892, there being present Mr. H. McLennan, vice-president; Dr. W.H. Hingston and L.J. Forget, a tender for electric car service was submitted and considered clause by clause and finally approved of and adopted and ordered to be transmitted to the city clerk, together with the sum of $25,000.00 deposit.

The city accepted the Company’s terms, and the work of electrifying the service was started without delay.

The president and directors at this period were--

Jesse Joseph, president; Hugh McLennan, vice-president; L.J. Forget, H.A. Everett, Dr. W.H. Hingston, and associated with them in the enterprise was William Mackenzie, of Toronto.

The conversion of the system into one operated by electricity was commenced in 1892, and the work was especially interesting in this city, owing to the climatic difficulties to be overcome. Meteorological records had shown that the average snowfall for each of the sixteen winters from 1875 to 1891 was 118 inches; the greatest fall of 173 inches, or over 14 feet, taking place in the winter of 1886-7.

Another exceptional difficulty was that of grades. For instance Amherst Street rises 50 feet in a distance of 800 feet; St. Denis Street rises 47 feet in a distance of 700 feet; St. Lawrence Street rises 68 feet in a distance of 1,500 feet; Beaver Hall Hill, 60 feet in a distance of 900 feet; and Windsor Street, 70 feet in a distance of 1,500 feet; while on Guy Street and Cote des Neiges Hill there is a rise of 350 feet in a distance of 5,150 feet, with a maximum grade of 11 per cent for about 100 feet.

Before the introduction of electricity, the negotiation of some of these grades was almost a cruelty to animals, while upon other routes now readily, safely and quickly traversed, the old horse car service would have been an impossibility.

The progress under the electric regime was immediate and wonderful, and the business of the Company grew in such manner as to enforce frequent increases in its capital, while dividends at the rate of 8% per annum were paid.

By 1895 the capital stock of the Company had increased to $4,000,000, with bonds of $973,333.33. In 1897 it was increased to $5,000,000, and in that year Mr. G.C. Cunningham resigned as director, manager and chief engineer. Later Mr. R.B. Angus replaced him as a director and Mr. F.L. Wanklyn as manager and chief engineer.

In 1901 the Company purchased all the bonds and a majority of the stock of the Montreal Park and Island Railway Company. In the same year the Company secured franchises from the towns of St. Louis and St. Paul, both now part of Montreal.

In the following year the Company issued $1,500,000 4½% bonds to pay for the Park and Island Railway. The capital at this time was $6,000,000, and no less than fourteen miles of new track were built and put into operation.

In 1903 another $1,000,000 of stock was issued.

Mr. James Ross resigned as vice-president and managing director, during this year, and was replaced by Mr. F.L. Wanklyn, later in that year Mr. Wanklyn resigned and Mr. K.W. Blackwell was elected vice-president, and Mr. W.G. Ross managing director. Mr. Duncan McDonald was appointed manager and Mr. Patrick Dubee secretary. The Company, pursuing its policy of rapid extension, secured a franchise in Delorimier (now part of Montreal), and an extension of their Westmount franchise. Also through another subsidiary company, the Suburban Tramway and Power Company, now The Public Service Corporation, they secured a franchise to Longue Pointe and the Village of Beaurivage.

In the following year, the Company secured an extension of the Maisonneuve franchise, and bought considerable property on St. Denis Street for building purposes.

In 1906, the Company entered into an agreement for the purchase of the stock and bonds of the Montreal Terminal Company, and also secured a franchise in Outremont, for the further extension of its system into the suburbs. By this time the capital stock had grown to $7,000,000. The purchase of the Montreal Terminal Company was concluded in the following year, while considerable additions and extensions were made, and to meet the increased demands the capital stock was increased to $9,000,000.

The Park and Island Company also secured a franchise in Notre Dame de Grâce, and started an extension of the Sault-au-Recollet line to opposite St. Vincent de Paul. The Cartierville line was also double tracked to the bridge.

In 1908 $292,000 debenture bonds were redeemed, and £460,000 ($2,238,666.67) debenture bonds, and another $1,000,000 of stock, were issued, bringing its capital up to $10,000,000 stock and $4,420,000 bonds where it stands today.

In 1910 the Company was capitalized at $10,000,000 stock and $4,420,000 bonds, operated over 144 miles of track, and controlled and operated subsidiary companies with some eighty-six miles of track, a total of 230 miles. On March 24, 1911, an act to incorporate the Montreal Tramways Company saw a new development, the incorporators of the charter being, E.A. Robert (president), J.W. McConnell (vice president), F. Howard Wilson (vice president), Hon. J. M. Wilson, Wm. C. Finley, J.M. McIntyre, Geo. G. Foster, K.C., D.L. McGibbon and N. Curry.

As an indication of the growth of the passenger service the account for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1914, gave the gross earnings as $7,147,804.19, the operating expenses, $4,206,114.57 and the net earnings as $2,936,689.62 while the total number of passengers carried, including “transfers” was 58,120,066. Such a story of rapid progress in the face of natural and other obstacles is one of which both the Company and the city may reasonably feel proud.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] The two-cent rate of the United States was introduced into Canada in 1899.

[2] The “pay as you enter” cars originated in Montreal on the invention of Mr. Duncan McDonald, of the Montreal Street Railway Company.

[3] The rapid growth of the city in population dates from 1891. 1861, City and suburbs, 101,439; 1872, 155,865; 1881, 178,237; 1891, 261,302; 1901, 376,402; 1910, 600,000.