December 13, 2024 Stratford Times William H. Trethewey’s early days of the Grand Trunk Railway shops in Stratford, part three BETTY JO BELTON Seratford-Perth Archives A little over a century ago the Stratford His- torical Society announced that a number ot local people had been invited to write down their memories of life here “in the old days” of the 1800s. They preserved these manu- scripts along with other historic documents and photographs until they were transferred to Stratford-Perth Archives in the 1970s. William H. Trethewey, one of the earli- est employees of the Grand Trunk Railway shops on Downie Street in Stratford, care- fully penned 32 pages outlining a history of the shops and the people who had worked there. Earlier sections of Trethewey’s paper were reprinted in recent issues of the Strat- ford Times. They traced the development from the earliest days of the Grand Trunk Railway in the 1850s to the consolidation ty their main locomotive repair shops in Strat ford in the 1870s along with descriptions of some of the key staff who worked there. In this section, Trethewey describes a few of the many book lovers on staff who supported the shops’ library: “Mr. Roberts [T. Herbert Roberts, 1844- 1915 — head of the mechanical department at Stratford flies repair shop] was suc- ceeded by Barnett, a gentleman who is eet by. many of you as a very energetic moving figure on our streets. He had served a regular apprenticeship in the Montreal shops and drawing office, and, therefore, as a man of thorough mechanical “education, well qualified for the position. His attitude towards the men was very different from that of Mr. Roberts. It was that of an Englishman. It tolerated no familiarity. It implied that between the commander and the private there was a great gulf. Yet it was not the result of his being of a hard, alsa nature. It was, rather, assumed from a tion, perhaps a mistaken notion, that it was necessary to the maintenance of discipline. He gave instance after instance of his being a kind hearted man. He had been for many years a diligent col- lector of books, his library numbering at the last about 42,000 volumes, which he donated to the University of Western Ontario. But he was not merely a great collector of books, he was a great reader as well, and his mind was a vast storehouse of useful information. In consideration of this fact and of this magnifi- cent gift, the University conferred on him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. During his stay in Stratford, he served on the City Council Board, on the Public Library Board and on the Water Commission. In the winter season he used to give weekly “talks”, as he called them, in the large room adjoining the shop library. His talks em- braced a wide variety of subjects which he was well able to present in an interesting and instructive manner. The period of Mr. Barnett’s residence in Stratford was divided into two installments. The first was from the time when he succeed- ed Mr. Roberts [around 1880] to, probably, 1883 or ‘84, when he went to the position of Mechanical Superintendent of the Midland Railway of Canada; and the second from the ——— Ee ee time when he came to be Superintendent of the Shops after they were enlarged in 1888 to the time of his moving to London [in 1918]... William Aird, Machine Shop Foreman, was of Scotch parents. At the time of his birth, the family was living in London, England, while his father was employed in Paris. Some time after his birth, the family joined Mr. Aird Se- nior. Living in France in early childhood — the natural time for learning a language — he acquired a good speaking knowledge of French. Before coming to Stratford, he was working in the old Northern Railway shops, Toronto, in which his father was in charge of one of the departments. Mr. Aird, when he came to Stratford, was a bright, intelligent young [man], with very decided, clear cut opinions of public men, books, newspapers and the great political questions of the day; indeed, he reminded one of Lord Macaulay of whom Francis Jef- Srey once said he wished he could be as sure of one thing as Tom Macaulay was of every- thing. Mr. Aird continued in Stratford until 1881, when he was promoted to a larger job in the G.T.R. works at Montreal, where he remained until 1900. He then went to Monc- ton, N.B. to fill a position on the Intercolo- nial. ‘Andrew Pullan, head carpenter, was a Scotchman. He was a ship carpenter, having learned his trade at one of the great ship- yards for which Scotland has long been, and still is, famous; but the wooden ships, which were the only kind built in Andrew Pullan’s young days, have given place to ships of steel. As a rule, an old country tradesman is a good tradesman, and Andrew Pullan was no exception to this rule. But beyond this fact he was an outstanding man. Tall, with fine features, a heavy, drooping mustache and a long beard, he presented quite a patriarchal appearance; and as we usually assume that a patriarch is a man of sound practical wisdom and therefore a ca- able advisor, so Mr. Pullan not only pos- sessed the patriarchal appearance, but also the patriarchal wisdom and in recognition of this fact, the men looked to him as their guide ... and friend. He was usually called on to preside at any meetings the men held. He made an excellent chairman, because he was always able in a few comprehensive words to lay clearly before the meeting the matter or matters for which it was convened, and he could so guide the deliberations that everything was done decently...Mr. Pul- lan was a diligent reader not of books that were simply milk for babes, but of books that were strong meat for men. Charles Darwin's works were his delight and so constantly and attentively had he perused them, it used to be jokingly said that if by some conflagration or convulsion of nature, they were all blotted out of existence, he could reproduce them from memory. Such whole-souled devotion to this class of reading had made him an unquestioning believer in the evolutionary doctrine or the- ory, and, therefore, despite his upbringing in a strict Scotch Presbyterian home, we must rank him theologically as a modernist. Colour postcard railway gtr shops stratford In September 1890, Mr. Pullan left the ser- vice of the Grand Trunk Railway. ‘evious to leaving town, he was entertained by his shops-mates at a banquet in the Crown Ho- tel and a complimentary address was pre- sented to him. Strange to say we lost track of him, and doubtless years ago he passed into ss ee .. shops were a library and reading room. The library con- sisted of about 400 volumes representing the various departments of literature, and the reading room was furnished with the leading daily and weekly papers of Canada and some from the United States. From the latter country were some illustrated papers and magazines, and also some from Britain, Harper’s Weekly, Harper's Monthly, Frank Leslie's Weekly, and Frank Leslie’s Mag- azine, were among the publications from the United States. From Britain were the Illustrated London News and Punch, while for men of a radical turn of mind, to whom Royalty and Aristocracy were abominations, Reynolds Newspaper furnished just the kind of reading matter that suited them. Our Scot- tish friends found congenial reading in the Scottish American Journals, and I believe the Irishman’s tastes were catered to by the Freeman's Journal. There were also some periodical technical publications both British and American... The man in charge of the library and read- ing room was Mr. Thomas Barlow, who was aplain man, genial and kindly in disposition —a man whom it is a pleasure to call up in memory. He died many years ago. He was acquainted with the exterior rather than the interior of the books committed to his care. Still he liked to hand out books of an improv- ing, informing character, rather than those that merely entertained and amused. As he ut it, “People read altogether too much fiction.” One reader of light literature took out Hugh Miller's “Cruises of the Betsey”, thinking from its title that it was a sea sto- ry which would proye very interesting, but when he found that it dealt ‘largely vith geol- ogy, he brought it back, and banged it down with inexpressible disgust. Of course, among the Grand Trunk read- ers there was the usual percentage who read (STRATFORD-PERTH ARCHIVES PHOTO) what was solid and edifying. For instance, Andrew Pullan had read Darwin's “De- scent of Man” so often and so studiously, that it was said he could reproduce for the world from memory if some convulsion of nature were to sweep every copy of it out of existence. For the maintenance of the li- brary, the subscribers paid a fee of 10 cts,a month, and any money that was made from the employees’ annual excursion went into the library treasury; also, the older Strat- ford people will remember that each year a concert to aid the library.funds was given in the town hall. The railroad men were always grateful for the assistance at these concerts from the best musical talent of the town. The two Miss Lintons, one of whom afterwards became Mrs. Sheriff Hossie, Miss Lizars, af- terwards, Mrs. Robert Smith; the daughters of Mr. Michael Hays (or Hayes) Crown At- torney, sweet players on the harp etc... The amalgamation of the Grand Trunk and Great Western Railway Systems, went into effect in August 1882. Shortly after this fusion, it was decided that the locomotive re- pair shops at Hamilton should be closed and all the work be done at Stratford. By 1888, the enlarged shops were ready for occupa- tion, and the ae machinery and a great number of men from Hamilton were removed to Stratford. The Stratford shop library also was augmented to the extent of several hun- dred volumes from Hamilton. Still again, a few years later, the shops proved inadequate for the work that was forced upon them through increased territo- ry and weight of traffic, and again the G.T.R., under the present management — without asking any bonus beyond that of closing a portion of Nelson street has met the require- ment of the times, not by additions to the old structures but by pulling them down, and creating in their place such spacious new buildings — equipped with the most scientific machinery and appliances of all kinds — as to justify the citizens of Stratford in boasting of the “million dollar shops” — not surpassed by anything of its kind on the continent of America. Please contact Stratford-Perth Archives, 519-271-0531 ext 259 or archives@perth- county.ca with any questions or comments.