History of the Lumber Industry of America

Previous chapters have dealt with physical features, with forests, with history of development and administration and with statistics, but no history can be complete without reference to the men who have done the things recorded. It has not seemed necessary or advisable to make the personal element prominent in a work of this character, but in order to link the past with the present and to indicate the forces which are still carrying ahead the lumber development' of the Province of Quebec the following brief sketches of individuals, firms or companies that once were or are now prominent in the industry are presented. Some of them were pioneers; some of them are occupying a growing place either in lumber manufacture or in lumber commerce; but all are deemed worthy of mention in a work of this character.

THE MONTMORENCY MILLS.

Early in the Nineteenth Century the English government sent several practical men to Canada to procure timber for shipbuilding. One of these men was Peter Patterson, who, later, in connection with Henry Usbume in the year 1811, purchased the site of the famous Montmorency sawmills, at the foot of the Falls of Montmorency, near the City of Quebec. Subsequently Mr. Patterson conducted the business on his own account for a period of forty years, when he died. He was succeeded by the late George Benson Hall, who conducted six mills at the same place until his death in 1876, after which the mills were operated by Andrew Thomson, Patterson Hall and George Benson Hall, under the firm name of G. B. Hall & Co., until 1884, when Patterson Hall and H. M. Price, under the name of Hall & Price, leased the mills and continued them until 1892, when they were shut down. In 1894 the buildings were bought by Mr. Price and pulled down by him. The Montmorency Cotton Works now occupy the site.

H. M. PRICE.

H. M. Price, after the Montmorency mills were closed, bought the Whitton, East Broughton and Lyster mills, which he continued to operate until about twenty-four years ago, when he sold out to his manager, D. H. Pennington, an old Montmorency man who has since built another mill in the same neighborhood, all now being operated to thefts, full capacity. Mr. Price, though still in the deal business, is largely engaged in the production of pulpwood, and is president of the Pulpwood Association of Quebec Province.

HAMILTON BROS.

George Hamilton, one of the earliest in the trade, bought the Hawkesbury mill property, on the Ottawa River, in 1811, and at his death the business—a general deal and lumber business—was carried on by his three sons, Robert, George and the Hon. John Hamilton. The business became one of the most extensive on the Ottawa River, and the whole of the mill’s cut was brought to the Quebec market for exportation to Great Britain. Some years before the firm retired from business, John, the son of the late Robert Hamilton, became a partner. He is still living in Quebec and is chancellor of the University of Bishop’s College, Lennoxville, Quebec, where he graduated with the degrees of master of arts and doctor of civil law.

HENRY ATKINSON.

In the early part of the Nineteenth Century, Sir John Caldwell, the Receiver General of Lower Canada, opened two lumbering establishments—one on the Etchemin River and the other on the St. Nicholas. For the double purpose of bringing down logs and for an additional supply of water for his mills, at the foot of the St. Nicholas Falls he constructed a canal about five miles long from a tributary of the Chaudiere to the St. Nicholas River. In 1821 Charles King, father of the members of the present firm of King Bros., Limited, came over from England and took charge of the St. Nicholas establishment for Sir John, and at about the same time John Thomson, father of Andrew Thomson, now president of the Union Bank of Canada, came from Boness, Scotland, and took charge of the Etchemin establishment. After the return of Sir John Caldwell to England, the St. Nicholas mill fell into the hands of the late William Gerrard Ross, and the Etchemin mill into the hands of the late Henry Atkinson, uncle of the present proprietor, Henry Atkinson, who still conducts that valuable property.

JOHN BREAKEY.

The St. Nicholas mill, like the Montmorency mills, has long been dismantled, the tendency at present being to take the mill to the logs instead of, as in the past, bringing the logs to the mill. Following up this practice, Charles King, in partnership with H. D. Breakey, father of the present owner of this property, John Breakey, built in 1846 the existing mills on the Chaudiere River, several miles south of the St. Lawrence River (at a point about six miles from Quebec City), whence the deals were started down to the Chaudiere Basin on the St. Lawrence for shipment. Subsequently the property became that of Henry King and John King, and upon the death of the former, Air. Breakey succeeded to the ownership, which he still maintains. This mill is one of the largest if not the largest spruce deal mill in the Province of Quebec.

THE THOMSONS.

Some time after John Thomson, before referred to, left Etchemin, he took two of his sons into partnership with him—Andrew and John Thomson—under the firm name of Thomson & Co., and they purchased the Buckingham mill property in conjunction with the Hamilton brothers, and conducted on a large scale a pine deal business. These deals were taken down to Quebec in moulinettes and piled or shipped from the river at the New Liverpool cove.- When the partnership between the Hamiltons and the Thomsons was dissolved, the Thomsons ..bought Victoria cove, on the north side of the St. Lawrence, where they carried on business until they retired over a quarter century ago.

KING BROS., LIMITED.

King Bros., Limited, with headquarters at Quebec City, are extensive manufacturers of spruce and pine, and have been in the trade for many years, the firm having been established in 1829 by the late Charles King, who erected his first mill at St. Antoine de Tilly in the Province of Quebec. At present there are two partners in the firm— Edmund Alexander King and Charles King, with W. S. Thomas as vice president and general manager of the business. King Bros, are noted for their careful and reliable selection of shipments, and their operations have been carried on over a large area and in various localities of the Province of Quebec. The late James King, who was a partner up to the time of his death about ten years ago, was a member of the Provincial Legislature for Megantic for several years, and was well known to the trade both at home and abroad.

w. & J. SHARPLES.

W. & J. Sharpies (Hon. John Sharpies) is one of the oldest firms in the Quebec square timber trade, having been established in 1830 by William Sharpies, of Liverpool. The business was afterward taken over by his son, Henry Sharpies, about 1840. Richard Wainright and Charles Sharpies, and afterward the late Hon. John Sharpies, next conducted the business and subsequently the latter’s sons, only one of whom remains in the timber export trade, the Hon. John Sharpies, who is the sole proprietor of the business carried on under the style of W. & J. Sharpies. He was born in Quebec in 1847. He entered the firm in 1871, and under his management the business has been greatly extended.

The firm ships about 2,000,000 cubic feet of square and waney timber of all kinds during the season of navigation, and about 50,000,000 feet board measure of pine deals and sidings. The firm possesses two coves at Quebec—the Sillery cove, which is devoted to the shipment of square and waney timber, and Bridgewater cove, where there are large piling grounds for deals and lumber.

The name of Sharpies has been prominently before the public in connection with the timber and lumber export trade of Canada for nearly three-quarters of a century. The development of the business of this concern from comparatively small beginnings has been some* thing phenomenal. The establishment transacts the greater part of its trade with the United Kingdom, but business relations are maintained also with certain commercial centers in continental Europe. There are branch offices at Montreal and Ottawa, and the firm has agencies in Glasgow, London and Liverpool.

The Hon. John Sharpies is a member of the Legislative Council of the Province of Quebec, to which he was nominated in 1893, and of the Quebec Board of Harbor Commissioners; vice president of the Union Bank of Canada and of the Quebec Auditorium; a director of the Quebec Bridge Company; president of The Chronicle Newspaper Company ; mayor of the suburban town of Sillery, and was, until he resigned recently, vice president of the Great Northern railway of Canada.

J. BURSTALL & CO.

J. Burstall & Co. is one of the oldest Quebec firms engaged in the export of wood goods from Canada, having been established in the City of Quebec by the late Henry Burstall, in the year 1832, nearly three-quarters of a century ago. He came from Hull, England, and was shortly afterward joined by his brother Edward. The business was carried on for many years under the style of H. & E. Burstall. On the retirement of Henry Burstall in 1856, it was changed to E. Burstall & Co. In 1857 John Burstall, a nephew of the brothers, was admitted as a partner, and when a few years afterward Edward Burstall retired, it was again changed to J. Burstall & Co., and has so remained ever since.

About the year 1863 Stanley Smith, of Liverpool, joined the firm and continued as a partner for ten or twelve years, when he retired. W. H. Robinson then became a member, as representing Harrison, Robinson & Co., of Liverpool. Mr. Robinson died in 1876, and the following year F. Billingsly, for many years in the employ of the firm, was admitted into partnership, along with H. T. Walcot. The latter remained in the firm fourteen years, and the former until his death in 1903. John Burstall, who had been head of the firm for about thirty-five years, died in England in 1896. The business is now conducted by John F. Burstall, his son. The firm has a branch office in Montreal and another in London, England. It has for more than a half century done a large annual export trade, and before the development of the steam carrying trade, for a long period of years, exported annually to Great Britain from 120 to 200 cargoes of timber and deals.

NICHOLAS FLOOD.

One of the oldest living operators in the timber and deal trade of the Province of Quebec is Nicholas Flood, a resident of the Ancient Capital, who, in the successive capacities of culler and manufacturer, has been identified with this industry for more than a half century. Mr. Flood was bom in Wexford, Ireland, and immigrated to Canada with his parents at the age of eight years. A year later, at the tender age of nine, he began his apprenticeship as a culler’s assistant at Walker’s cove, Quebec. His unusually active career covers the most prosperous period of the Quebec export timber trade. For many years he received for the owners at Cape Rouge cove, at Quebec, from 7,000,000 to 13,000,000 feet of board pine each season, and about twelve years ago succeeded to the management, which office he still holds.

PRICE BROS. & CO., LIMITED.

Price Bros. & Co., Limited, of Quebec, are the largest lumber operators in spruce in the Province of Quebec, having sawmills in all the principal lumbering districts east of the Ottawa, and are also the largest individual limit holders in Canada. The company has a paid up capital of $2,000,000. The total appraised value of the assets of the company is $4,500,000. The value of the freehold lands, seigniories and timber limits alone is in excess of $3,000,000. These lands schedule over 100,000 acres. The limits operated under license schedule over 6,000 square miles. The timber consists principally of spruce, balsam, cedar, birch and a small amount of pine, poplar and hemlock. The predominating wood is spruce, a large part of the limits being included in the great spruce belt of Canada. The timber is located in a district where the rapidity of growth is probably greater than anywhere else in North America, so that a tract may be gone over again in fifteen or twenty years. The company has mills at the following places, all in the Province of Quebec: Batiscan, St. Thomas, Cape St. Ignace, Rimouski, Matane, Salmon Lake, Metabetchouan, Chicoutimi, L’Anse au Cheval and St. Catherine’s Bay. In addition to the sawmills, the company owns one of the largest pulp mills in Canada, located at Rimouski.

The founder of this business, the late William Price, in 1840 established the mills at Chicoutimi, St. Alexis, L’Anse St. Jean and St. Etienne, on the Saguenay, and at Metis, Matane, St. Thomas, Batiscan and other places, leaving an immense business to his sons, the last of whom, Hon. E. J. Price, died about six years ago, at which time his nephew, William Price, succeeded to the business, which, during the latter part of 1904, was converted into a limited stock company, with Mr. Price as president.

On the far famed Saguenay the company has four mills, from which it ships its well known spruce deals. This remarkable river is navigable for ships of the deepest draft for sixty miles. On account of the swift current, a powerful tug is provided for the convenience of ships coming up to load, there being no possible anchorage on the river except at the mills. The Chicoutimi mill is situated in the town of that name at the head of navigation. The mill at Grand Bay (or Ha-Ha Bay) is driven by water power. The other mills on the Saguenay, as already stated, are situated at L’Anse St. Jean and St. Etienne. The total capacity of these mills is 20,000 standards per season. The Metis steam mill is about two hundred miles below Quebec, on the south shore; the Matane mill, about two hundred and thirty miles; these and the Salmon Lake mill, on the Matapedia River, have a capacity of about four thousand standards each. A few years ago a new steam mill was built at Trois Pistoles, about one hundred and thirty miles below Quebec, on the south shore of the St. Lawrence. The capacity of the mill is from 2,000 to 3,000 standards. The mill at Cape St. Ignace (steam power) and the mill at Trois Saumons have a joint capacity of about two thousand standards. The shipments of the company are chiefly to Great Britain, the Continent, South America and Australia, and its agents in the United Kingdom are Price & Pierce, of London.

William Price takes an active interest in all commercial matters relating to the development of Canada. He has been president of the Quebec Board of Trade, is honorary commodore of the Quebec Yacht Club, vice president of the Quebec Steamship Company and was a candidate in the Conservative interest for the county of Rimouski in the general elections for the Dominion of Canada in 1904.

William Price succeeded his uncle, the Hon. E. J. Price, as president of the A. Gravel Lumber Company, Limited, which has a large modern mill on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, a few miles from Quebec City. It manufactures all kinds of lumber, including spruce, birch, etc., and box boards for the English market and all kinds of joinery for local consumption. Agencies are maintained in Boston, New York and London.

G. B. SYMES & CO.

The well known firm of G. B. Symes & Co. was established in Quebec about the year 1840, and was composed of George Bums Symes and D. D. Young, both of whom were English bom. They were shippers of all kinds of timber and lumber, and operated largely in the shipping interests of the port. Upon the death of Mr. Symes, A. F. A. Knight, the firm’s bookkeeper, became a partner with Mr. Young under the name of D. D. Young & Co. This firm was succeeded, upon the retirement of Mr. Young, by A. F. A. Knight & Co., which firm went out of business over a quarter century ago.

THE BENSONS.

The name of Benson has long been familiar in connection with the timber and shipping interests of the port of Quebec. W. J. C. Benson, came to Canada from London, England, about sixty years ago, and began a business career which, though brief, was extraordinarily active. He was one of the largest if not the largest shipper in the port for five years, when he died at the early age of thirty-three years. He shipped from 100 to 110 cargoes each season during this period. He built several ships at New Liverpool cove, Quebec, which property he owned, in the palmy days of the wooden ship industry. His cargoes of wood goods embraced square pine, deals, staves and lathwood. At the time of his death, about 1850, Joseph Roberts, who had been Mr. Benson’s agent both in Quebec and in England, entered into partnership with Thomas Benson (a brother of the former) and R. H. Smith, under the firm name of Benson & Co. The new enterprise was very successful, and the firm’s cargoes reached the extraordinary number of 140 in a single season. The business continued until the retirement of Thomas. Benson, when the two remaining partners continued the business under the name of Roberts, Smith & Co., their operations being extensive for upward of twelve years, when Mr. Roberts retired and returned to England in 1880. At this time E. Harper Wade (now manager of The McArthur Export Company, of Quebec) became a partner with Mr. Smith under the style of Smith, Wade & Co. Mr. Smith retired after six years, and H. T. Walcot (now representing The McArthur Export Company in London, England) joined Mr. Wade under the old firm name, and the business was continued until 1890, at which time it was wound up.

DUNN & CO.

The business of Dunn & Co. was established over a half century ago by the late Timothy Dunn, who was the doyen of the timber trade of the port of Quebec. Stuart H. Dunn, his oldest son, is now the sole proprietor of the firm. This concern draws its supplies of timber from Ohio and West Virginia, and is agent for certain hardwood lumbermen of the United States whose makes are of standard excellence and in good repute abroad. Dunn & Co. are probably more largely interested in the oak timber trade than any other firm in the City of Quebec.

The late Timothy Dunn was born at St. Ursule, Quebec Province, in 1816. In 1841 he entered the Quebec office of the great timber firm of Calvin, Cook & Counter, and later became the head of the firm of Dunn, Calvin & Co. Afterward, in conjunction with the late Thomas Benson, he transacted business under the name of T. H. Dunn & Co., and in 1860 formed a new partnership with the late William Home, the firm being Dunn & Home. The firm was succeeded by his two sons, the late Logie H. Dunn and Stuart H. Dunn, under the present name of Dunn & Co.

HENRY FRY & CO.

A notable firm closely associated with the commercial life of the port of Quebec for over a half century is that of Henry Fry & Co. The firm was established by Henry Fry in *1854, as timber merchant and ship owner. The founder having been joined by his brother in 1861, both continued to carry on this business on an extensive scale. In 1877 it happened, however, that, owing to ill health, Mr. Fry was prevented from taking an active part in the operations of the firm, and from that date until 1882 the management and direction of the business was in the hands of E. C. Fry. In the year last mentioned it was deemed advisable for the senior partner to retire for a much needed and well earned rest, and, in consequence, the firm was dissolved. At about this time Robert Stanley, who had been associated with the business since 1862, was admitted as a partner, and, with E. C. Fry, has since successfully conducted the present business of general commission merchants. E. C. Fry was appointed a member of the Transportation Commission created by the Canadian government in 1903.

THE WILSONS.

Matthew Isaac Wilson and his brother, Charles William Wilson, formed a partnership under the firm name of Wilson Bros. & Co., on March 7, 1854. This partnership was formed in Liverpool, and a business in timber, deals, staves and general cargoes was conducted in both Liverpool and Quebec, with C. W. Wilson in charge of the Canadian branch. The firm acquired Dalhousie and Glenbumie coves in Quebec, and built several ships. About a year afterward the partnership was dissolved, when C. W. Wilson continued as agent in Canada for his brother in Liverpool until 1866, when the former went into the business on his own account, retaining the coves mentioned, building ships and carrying on a general export business, the cargoes embracing largely timber, deals, staves, etc. The Wilsons have loaded as many as 140 cargoes in a single season. J. P. Bickell, who was a clerk in the firm’s offices, became a partner with M. I. Wilson and represented the business as selling agent in England. The business of C. W. Wilson in Quebec was wound up in 1885, and that of the Liverpool house in 1895. The brothers were among the best known merchants and shipbuilders in the history of these important industries. W. H. Wilson, oldest son of C. W. Wilson, in the year in which his father retired formed a partnership with John S. Murphy as J. S. Murphy & Co., which continued up to 1895, when the senior partner died, and W. H. Wilson, with his brother Fred, formed a partnership in a commission and agency business, which is still in existence, having headquarters in Quebec City.

DOBELL, BECKETT & CO.

Among the notable firms that have long held a prominent place in the Canadian timber export trade, that of Dobell, Beckett & Co. is most familiar. The Quebec house was founded nearly a half century ago by the late Hon. R. R. Dobell and the late Thomas Beckett. The firm has branch offices at Montreal and Ottawa and representatives in Great Britain. Its annual shipments from the ports of Quebec and Montreal amount to, in timber and lumber, hundreds of millions of feet. The Quebec establishment is one of the leading commercial inheritances of the port.

The late Hon. R. R. Dobell was senior member and active head of the enterprise, and to his personal activity and commercial ability the firm in a large measure owes its prominence, stability and wide spread reputation. In the partnership were, in more recent years, T. Stevenson, Lorenzo Evans and W. Molson Dobell. Since the death of the two principals a few years ago, the Canadian business has been carried on by L. Evans, W. M. Dobell and R. W. Beckett, and the London, England, business by Mr. Stevenson.

Hon. R. R. Dobell represented Quebec West in the Canadian House of Commons for several years, and was also a minister of the Federal government. His absorption in the duties of state as well as those of membership of the Quebec Harbor Commission and Board of Trade, latterly placed the firm’s business, to a large extent, in the hands of his associate partners in Quebec.

The firm possesses some fine cove property at Sillery, where, during the season of navigation, much activity prevails in connection with the dressing and loading of timber.

SIR HENRI JOLY DE LOTBINIERE.

The seigniory of Lotbiniere, in the Province of Quebec, is one of the oldest in Canada, having been in the possession of the de Lotbi-nfere family since the year 1673. The seigniory is situated on the right bank of the St. Lawrence River, about forty miles west of the City of Quebec, and embraces an area of 87,000 acres of forest. It is the ambition of the de Lotbinikres to work this forest in a scientific and conservative manner so as to secure its perpetuity for many years to come. Their contention is that any one holding freehold or patented timber lands should work them simply for the revenue and not with the idea of converting them, with as short delay as possible, into cash; that no better investment can be found at the present time than timber lands, particularly when easy of access and exploitation; that a timber limit if properly managed should have no finality; that conservative felling will ensure the perpetuity of a forest, be it large or small; that a strict attention to a rational felling diameter and careful supervision against the lumberman’s greatest enemy, fire, constitute the two essential features necessary to perpetuate the existence of a forest.

Henri Gustavus Joly de Lotbiniere built a mill and began operations on the property in the year 1830, taking large quantities of pine and spruce deals to the Quebec market. His son, Sir Henri Joly de Lotbiniere, continues the business with the assistance of his son, E. G. Joly de Lotbiniere.

Sir Henri Joly de Lotbiniere, present head of this house, and one of the most distinguished public men of Canada, is widely known as a zealous and practical advocate of forestry. Sir Henri was bom in France in 1829 of Huguenot ancestry, and came to Canada when a young man. He was admitted to practice at the Quebec bar in 1855, and was returned as a Liberal to the Canadian Assembly in 1861 for the county of Lotbiniere. He took a prominent part in the agitation preceding the confederation of the provinces, to which measure he was strongly opposed. For a number of years he was a member of the Quebec Legislature, and in 1878 became Premier of that Province but was defeated the following year. After a protracted retirement from public life, he reentered the field in 1896, and was elected to the House of Commons as a supporter of Sir Wilfrid Laurier. He was made Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia in 1900, which position he now holds.

Sir Henri has written and spoken frequently in connection with forestry, horticulture and kindred topics, displaying a knowledge largely based upon practical experience and personal research, and has taken an active part in connection with organizations for the promotion of these objects.

E. G. JOLY DE LOTBINIERE.

The active connection of E. G. Joly de Lotbiniere, son of the above, with the lumber industry covers a period of barely ten years. Prior to that time he practiced law at Quebec. When, in 1896, his father accepted a seat in the Laurier cabinet, he gave up law and devoted himself to the management of the seigniory of Lotbiniere. He has also taken an active interest in the work of the Canadian Forestry Association for several years past, and has the honor of representing the association as president for the current year (1905). He was bom November 12, 1859. His mother’s name was Margaretta Gower. He was married in 1885 to Lucy Geils Campbell, eldest daughter of the late W. D. Campbell, N. P., of Quebec.

He maintains the traditions of his family in the management of the family property, the seigniory of Lotbiniere, and in his public capacity suggests regarding Crown land forests that a rigid enforcement of the existing rules and regulations, the setting aside of extended areas as perpetual forest reserves and a vigorous fire protection service should ensure for posterity the advantages which are yet happily enjoyed in the Province of Quebec.

D. R. M'LEOD

D. R. McLeod has been in business as a broker between manufacturers and shippers of timber for nearly a half century. He was at one time a shipper and is still largely interested in the trade at Quebec.

WILLIAM POWER, M. P.

Canada allows no adventitious circumstance of birth or fortune to be a bar to the progress of her deserving sons. A notable example of this is the career of William Power. He was born in 1849 at St. Colomb de Sillery, a suburb of Quebec City, and was educated at the parochial school of his native parish and at the Quebec Commercial School. When but a lad he entered the offices of W. & J. Sharpies, the well known lumber merchants. Here he displayed such business ability that at the age of seventeen he was promoted to a more important position in the company’s employ, and is now, as he has been for several years, manager of the Sharpies business. Mr. Power has been identified with the timber trade of Quebec for nearly forty years. He is a practical lumberman, having spent several years in the pine forests of Canada and of Michigan, supervising the work there carried on by the Sharpies employees. He visits the timber markets of Great Britain each year in the interest of his firm.

It would hardly be expected that a man who has shown so many excellent business qualities would be allowed to remain altogether in the comparatively quiet sphere of a business life, and so, not only has he been for many years a member of the parish Municipal Council of Sillery, but, on the death of Hon. R. R. Dobell, member of Parliament for the city district of Quebec West and a prominent timber merchant, Mr. Power was elected as his successor. He has since been reelected by his constituency at the general elections for the Dominion Parliament in 1903.

Mr. Power is associated with Mr. Sharpies and Harcourt Smith in an important business known as the River Ouelle Pulp & Lumber Company, which owns two mills on the River Ouelle, on the line of the Intercolonial railway below Quebec City.

E. HARPER WADE.

Edward Harper Wade, who arranged the formation, a few years ago, of. the McArthur Export Company, Limited, in the City of Quebec, and now holds the position of general manager of this concern, is a native of Liverpool, England. In 1862 he entered the offices of Sharpies & Co., in his native city of Liverpool. In 1870 he was transferred to Quebec, Canada, and remained with the Sharpies firm in that city until the end of 1877, visiting England each winter and taking an active part in the timber business as a salesman. He then accepted a similar position with Roberts, Smith & Co., of Quebec, and remained with them until the retirement of Joseph Roberts, in the year 1880, when he was taken into partnership by R. H. Smith, of the same city, and for six years carried on business under the style of Smith, Wade & Co. On Mr. Smith’s retiring, H. T. Walcot, who had been a partner in the business of J. Burstall & Co., joined the firm. Subsequently, in 1890, Mr. Walcot became agent in England of the McArthur Bros. Co., Limited, and Mr. Wade the manager of the Quebec and Montreal business of the same concern.

CARBRAY, ROUTH & CO.

Carbray, Routh & Co., of Quebec and Montreal, have been engaged in the business of general commission and shipping for nearly forty years. They are also selling agents for several important sawmills, and have done a large business with Great Britain, France, Portugal, Australia and South America. Mr. Carbray is a prominent man in public life, and for many years represented the business division of the City of Quebec in the Parliament of the Province of Quebec. He is also consul for Portugal at Quebec, while Mr. Routh fills the same position as Portuguese representative in Montreal.

THE EDSON FITCH COMPANY.

Edson Fitch & Co. was established at Montmorency, a few miles east of the City of Quebec, in 1867. In 1869 the plant and works were moved to Etchemin, on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River about four miles west of Quebec, where the establishment has steadily grown in importance. Mr. Edson Fitch is an American and has invested the industry with a spirit of enterprise so characteristic of his nationality. In 1886 Edson Fitch & Co. was converted into The Edson Fitch Company, and has so continued ever since. The specialty of the works is the manufacture of match splints, shooks and match blocks. Enough splints and blocks are manufactured daily to produce 80,000,000 matches, and in the manufacture of splints and cases about 20,000,000 feet of lumber are used a year. The company maintains business relations with the United Kingdom, the West Indies and South America.

BENNETT & CO.

Bennett & Co., manufacturers’ agents, have been in business in the City of Quebec for over thirty years. The two partners are sons of the late Benson Bennett, who was well known as the largest mill owner and manufacturer of pine and spruce deals in Quebec. Among the various mills for which Bennett & Co. have acted as agents are those of Sir Henri Joly de Lotbiniere, in the seigniory of Lotbiniere, and the Hon. J. K. Ward, of Montreal, for both of whom they have been agents for many years.

HAROLD KENNEDY.

Harold Kennedy, who has been established in the port of Quebec for nearly a quarter of a century, is identified with the timber export trade. He is the owner of Indian cove, one of the best properties of the kind in the port, which was occupied at one time by the Gilmour Company. Mr. Kennedy came to Quebec from his native city of Liverpool to represent Taylor, Pierce & Co., of that place, who were the successors of James Bland & Co. He is a manufacturer and shipper of pine and spruce deals and pine and birch timber, and an owner of large limits in the Province of Quebec. He has for his Montreal agents McLean, Kennedy & Co. As ship owners’ agent he acts for the following well known lines of steamers: Head Line, Belfast and Dublin; Moss Line, Liverpool; Malay & McIntyre, Greenock and Glasgow; Holme Line, of Maryport, and represents many owners of tramp steamers trading with the St. Lawrence. Mr. Kennedy is a member of the Quebec Harbor Commission, president of the McArthur Export Company, Limited, and vice president of the Quebec-Jacques Cartier Electric Company. He was appointed by the Federal government in 1903 as a member of the Dominion Transportation Commission, but, owing to business engagements, was obliged to decline the honor.

H. R. GOODDAY & CO.

Nearly twenty years ago H. G. Goodday, of London, England, engaged in the lumber export business with E. W. Benson. The firm of Goodday, Benson & Co. was dissolved in 1894, when H. R. Goodday, a son of the senior member of the firm, continued the business under the firm name of H. R. Goodday & Co. In 1899 he entered into partnership with H. C. Foy, who is a son of the head of the well known firm of Foy, Morgan & Co., of London, England, under the style of H. R. Goodday & Co. The specialty of this firm is spruce deals, getting its supplies from Canadian forests. It also handles hardwoods and other lumber. Its trade is principally in the United Kingdom and the chief centers of business on the Continent. Foy, Morgan & Co., London, England, are the firm’s agents in London and on the Continent. -

J. BELL FORSYTH.

J. Bell Forsyth is a name well known in Canada from the publication for so many years of the annual statistics of the timber and lumber trade of Quebec by the late firm of J. Bell Forsyth & Co., who were for many years engaged in the commission business in lumber. The annual statement is still continued under the old name, but Mr. Forsyth is now the collector of customs for the port.

ALEXANDER BAPTIST.

About half way between Quebec and Montreal, at Three Rivers, are the well known mills of Alexander Baptist, who, on account of the extensive limits he has owned, has been styled the “ Lumber King of the St. Maurice.” His father was one of the pioneers of the trade. His usual cut is about 300,000 logs per season of pine and spruce, most of the product reaching the English market.

THOMAS MALONE.

Thomas Malone, of Three Rivers, Quebec, has been prominent for over a quarter of a century in the lumber trade of Quebec Province, though his operations have extended over a much wider field. Born in Quebec City in 1856, he began active operations, before reaching his majority, as a shipper of deals to the British market. Under his energetic management the business rapidly developed until he handled a large proportion of the output of the Ottawa Valley going to Quebec. Between the years 1876 and 1880 he operated in Michigan and Wisconsin, shipping direct to Britain. In 1884 he removed from Quebec to Three Rivers, in the neighborhood of which place he owns extensive limits in addition to conducting a lumber agency. Mr. Malone has bought and sold timber limits on a large scale, and has done much to develop the trade of Three Rivers.

THE WARREN CURTIS MILL.

At Three Rivers is also the Warren Curtis mill, which has a capacity of 100,000 feet per day of ten hours. The logs are principally spruce, and number about 200,000 per year.

ST. MAURICE LUMBER COMPANY.

One of the leading institutions of the St. Maurice River district is the St. Maurice Lumber Company, of Three Rivers. Its ownership is largely American, and it operates the pulpwood part of its business in connection with pulp and paper mills at Glens Falls, New York. It owns extensive limits on the St. Maurice River. A large sawmill at Three Rivers produces pine and spruce deals for the English market and inch lumber for the United States, while during the working season about 100,000 feet of spruce timber is cut into pulpwood daily for shipment by the Richelieu Canal and Lake Champlain for the Glens Falls plant.

THE LAURENTIDE’S PULP MILL.

On the St. Maurice River is situated the Laurentide’s pulp mill at Grand Mere, manufacturing about one hundred tons a day. Three hundred thousand spruce logs are cut yearly.

THE TOURVILLE LUMBER MILLS COMPANY.

A little higher up the St. Lawrence than Three Rivers, the river widens out and is called Lake St. Peter, near the shores of which the Tourville Lumber Mills Company has three mills—one on the north shore at Louiseville and two on the south shore at Pierreville and Nicolet. The office of the company is at Montreal.

THE CHARLEMAGNE & LAC OUAREAU COMPANY.

The limits of the Charlemagne & Lac Ouareau Company’s mills are situated in the counties of Joliette, Montcalm and Berthier, in the Province of Quebec, and are composed largely of spruce, pine, birch, hemlock and ash.- The output of the mill is about 30,000,000 feet, the bulk of which is shipped to Great Britain and the United States. The principal mill is located at Charlemagne, about twelve miles below Montreal, at the junction of the L’Assomption, Ottawa and St. Lawrence rivers. It is operated by steam and has a capacity of about 2,000 logs per day. The president of the company is Robert Reford, of Montreal, senior member of the firm of Robert Reford & Co.

HON. JAMES LITTLE.

The Hon. James Little, of Montreal, one of the pioneer lumbermen of Canada, died in October, 1883, being over eighty years of age, and held in the highest esteem not only in his own country but in the United States as well.

He was born near Londonderry, Ireland, emigrating to Canada in 1823, at the age of nineteen years. He passed through Montreal and went to Niagara, Ontario, then the wholesale market for that part of Canada. . Toronto at that time was known as the village of York, and Hamilton was not in existence. In 1833 Mr. Little married and moved to the township of Seneca, on the Grand River, Ontario. The place where he settled is now the town of Caledonia, which is surrounded by a country that is cleared and settled, but at the time of his first residence there the entire section was an unbroken forest wilderness, the home of the Indians.

Upon the building of the first dam in the river, Mr. Little began a lumber manufacturing business, which he carried on upon a large scale for over a quarter of a century. His operations extended over almost the entire peninsula between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, and at one time numbered twelve different concerns. Later he operated in the counties of Brant, Wentworth, Norfolk and Elgin, and in the Georgian Bay district, Ontario, and finally in the St. Maurice River district, Quebec, after 1873 making Montreal his home. He was among the first to send lumber to the United States, Albany being his chief market.

Mr. Little was a public spirited and farseeing man, being often in advance of his fellows. This frequently caused opposition to his views, but he continued to fight for them until his object was gained. This was especially true of his labors in the interest of forestry. Seeing the rapidity with which commercial woods were being cut away with but small return to the country for their loss, and having a thorough knowledge of the subject, he became an earnest and persistent writer on the subject of forest protection at a time when the popular belief was that there was no need of any such protection. His efforts were at last rewarded. The American Forestry Congress, in recognition of his services, accorded him a vote of thanks; the first forestry association of Canada, that of Ontario, made him its honorary president, and the Government showed its recognition by establishing “Arbor Day.” The United States, as well as his own country, honored James Little for his valuable work for forest protection.

Since the death of James Little his work has been successfully continued by his son, William Little, of Montreal, who seems to hold by natural heritage the same views as did his father. Following in his father’s footsteps, William Little has for many years been a foremost advocate of forestry preservation, and has devoted much time and attention to the study of the relations of Canada with the United States.

j. K. WARD.

A fine type of the pioneer lumberman is J. K. Ward, of Montreal, Quebec, a Manx by birth. He migrated to the United States, and leased and operated a sawmill at Troy, New York. He bought a sawmill and stumpage on Maskinonge River, in Quebec in 1853, largely increasing his operations as time went by. In 1863 he located at Three Rivers, Quebec, and operated a mill, which he subsequently sold to an American concern. He then leased a larger area of timber land from the Province of Quebec on the Rouge River, and built an extensive sawmill on the Lachine Canal. He operated this mill, which had an annual cut of approximately 15,000,000 feet, until 1900, when he sold the property to a company headed by his oldest son.

THE MACLARENS.

The MacLaren family, of Buckingham, Quebec, noted for its extensive and widely scattered lumbering interests, traces its connection with the industry back to the early days of the pioneers of the Ottawa Valley. David MacLaren, a Scotchman, migrated to Canada in 1824, and took up land in the township of Torbolton, Carleton County, Ontario. He was a man of strong, energetic character and earnest religious convictions. James MacLaren, his eldest son, was six years of age when the family emigrated. On attaining the age of eighteen he engaged in lumbering, and in 1842 conducted a general store at Peche on the Gatineau River, Quebec. He subsequently built a small sawmill, and in 1853, in partnership with J. M. Currier, leased an extensive sawmill at the mouth of the Gatineau. He rapidly enlarged his enterprises and in 1864 purchased mills and timber limits on the Riviere du Lievre, Quebec. He built an immense sawmill of the modern type at Buckingham, Quebec, on the Ottawa River, at the mouth of the Lievre, about fifteen miles below Ottawa, where, for over a quarter of a century, he engaged in the manufacture of lumber on a large scale. He subsequently operated on the North Nation River, on the Upper Ottawa and in Michigan, being at one time the most extensive operator in America. He died in 1892.

David MacLaren, of Ottawa, eldest son of James MacLaren, was born in 1848. In 1874 he became manager of the Gatineau and Ottawa branches of his father’s business, which at times employed over one thousand men. The business was subsequently incorporated as the James MacLaren Company, Limited, David MacLaren becoming one of the directors, a position he still holds. He is interested in many other large corporations.

Albert MacLaren, son of James MacLaren, born in 1870, is president and managing director of the company, which now operates two extensive sawmills with planing mills, etc., at Buckingham, having an output of from 25,000,000 to 30,000,000 feet of lumber annually, and employing from 1,200 to 1,500 men in the winter and 400 during the summer months. The company has 2,600 square miles of timber limits in Quebec Province, and owns a pulp mill which began operations in 1902 and produces seventy tons of wood pulp daily.

Alexander MacLaren, another son of James MacLaren, bom in 1860, has been an active participant in the affairs of the James MacLaren Company, but is, perhaps, more prominently connected with other enterprises. He is president of the North Pacific Lumber Company, Limited, organized in 1890, with mills at Bamet, British Columbia, having 90,000 acres of cedar and fir limits. Over 25,000,000 feet of sawn lumber is shipped annually from this mill, which also manufactures about 30,000,000 shingles a year. Alexander MacLaren is a director of the Keewatin Power Company, Limited, and is concerned in other industrial undertakings.

John MacLaren, son of James MacLaren, died May 29, 1903, at Kamloops, British Columbia, from injuries sustained by being thrown from a horse. As a young man he was associated with his father in the lumber business. He spent several years at New Westminster, British Columbia, and for a time lived at Windsor, Ontario. He owned a large sawmill at East Templeton, Quebec. At the time of his death he was about fifty years of age.

EZRA B. EDDY.

Ezra Butler Eddy, of Ottawa, was bom near Bristol, Vermont, August 22, 1827. He engaged in the business of match manufacturing in Burlington, Vermont, in 1851, and three years later established himself at Hull, Quebec, where he erected extensive mills and workshops. He obtained large timber limits and began the manufacture of lumber, engaging also in subsidiary industries, on a large scale, availing himself of the splendid water power of the Ottawa River. In 1856 he added to his enterprise the manufacture of woodenware, and in 1892 erected a paper mill. In the meantime the business had been turned into a joint stock company under the name of The E. B. Eddy Company, of which organization Mr. Eddy is president. The establishment is one of the largest of its kind in the world, the output of the match factory being

50.000.000 matches daily. The total number of employees is over 2.000. Mr. Eddy has been mayor of Hull and represented Ottawa County for a term in the Quebec Legislature.

HON. GEORGE BRYSON.

Hon. George Bryson, who died at Fort Coulonge, January 14, 1900, was one of the pioneer lumbermen of the Province of Quebec. He was born in Paisley, Scotland, December 13, 1813, and came to Canada in 1821, when eight years of age. During the early part of his life he worked on a farm in the summer and in the winter season he got out cordwood under contract. He was one of the first to engage in lumbering in his district, and at twenty-two years of age, in company with his brother-in-law, the late Hiram Colton, of Litchfield, Pontiac County, Quebec, he began lumbering operations on the Coulonge River above Ragged Chute, Quebec. He took many rafts of square timber to Quebec, and was a well known figure in the commercial as well as the political life of Canada for more than a half century.

Mr. Bryson was a promoter of the Pontiac & Pacific Junction railway, a member of the Upper Ottawa Improvement Company for several years and was one of the founders and a director of the Bank of Ottawa. The town of Bryson, formerly known as Havelock, was renamed after the Bryson family. In politics he was a Liberal, and his parliamentary career began in 1857, when he was elected to represent Pontiac County in the old Canadian Assembly. He was called to the Legislative Council of Quebec in 1867, and occupied a seat there for twenty years, when he retired in favor of his second son, George Bryson, Junior.

EUGENE ETIENNE TACHE.

Eugene Etienne Tach6, Deputy Minister of Lands and Forests, Province of Quebec, is the eleventh child of Sir E. P. Tach6 and was born at St. Thomas de Montmagny October 25, 1836. He was educated at the Seminary of Quebec and at the Upper Canada College, Toronto. He is a civil engineer and land surveyor for the Provinces of Quebec and Ontario. In 1862 he received the brevet of captain in the Chasseurs Canadiens, of Quebec. He was also a member for several years of the Civil Service Rifle Corps, at Ottawa. On September 20, 1869, Mr. Tache was appointed Deputy Minister of Crown Lands, for the Province of Quebec. The department has been known for several years past as that of Lands, Forests and Fisheries, but quite recently it has assumed the title of Lands and Forests simply, the other branch having been added to another department of the government service.

As a land surveyor Mr. Tach6 has had wide experience, among other important works, having been engaged in the location of the Ottawa Canal. The maps of the Province which have been drawn by him are models of exactitude and clearness. The plans of the legislative buildings and the courthouse, as well as other notable civic and military edifices in the City of Quebec, were made by him, and in these he has shown great taste and originality.

Mr. Tach6 has given loyal and active service to the Province for thirty-six years. He has worked conscientiously and assiduously and has shown himself to be a thorough master of all the intricate details of the most important department of the government service. He is the author of the beautiful and patriotic device, “Je me souviens,” which accompanies the arms of the Province of Quebec. His Majesty, King Edward, recognizing the official merit of Mr. Tache, has created him a Companion of the Imperial Service Order.

He has been married twice—on the first occasion to Olympe Elea-nore, daughter of Louis Albert Bender, who died in 1878; and subsequently to Maria Clara, daughter of the Hon. E. L. A. C. J. Duchesnay.