MR A. GRANT'S DEPARTURE.

Evening Star, Issue 9581, 29 December 1894, Page 2

MR A. GRANT'S DEPARTURE.

At Watson's Hotel last night about sixty of the railway servants, representing the heads ofbhe various departments, and station-misters, etc., met for the purpose of bidding farewell to Mr A. Grant, TWho has been transferred to Auckland. Mr T. Arthur, who succeeds Mr Grant as manager of the Otago section, occupied the chair, while Messrs E. R. Ussher-<of the .Public Works Department) and J K. Logan (Superintendent of Telegraphs) acted as vice-chairman. Among those present were Messrs W. Black (Public Works), W. Crombie (the new station-master at Dunedin), C. A. Piper, Loring, C. Lloyd, and Day (stationmaster at Balclutha).

After the usual loyal toasts had been honored, The Chairman read several letters of apology, among them the following : " I very much regret not being able to be with you to-night to bear testimony to the courteous and friendly way in which I have invariably been treated by Mr Grant, who has been my superior officer for over nineteen years. My wish is that much success and happiness will follow him and his to the genial clime to which he has been transferred.—l am, etc., James Gibb, Milton. "I regret very much that a previous engagement will prevent my being present at Mr Grant's "send off" to-night. Will you kindly apologise for my absence, and say how sorry I am he is leaving Dunedin. Owing to the close connection existing between the Railway and Telegraph Departments, I have for many years past been brought officially into frequent contact with Mr Grant, and I am pleased to be able to say that our relations have Always been of the most cordial and friendly nature; but I believe I am not singular in this respect, and I feel sure he will be greatly missed by those under him as well as by the public, for whom he has always been considerate. I am satisfied Mr Grant will soon become as great a favorite in Auckland, both with the staff and public, as he is in Dunedin.— Wishing him God-speed, A. Duffus Lubecki. In proposing the health of their guest (Mr Grant) the chairman said that he had known him for many years ; in fact, shortly after he came to the colony, twenty years ago. Mr Grant had first charge of the goods traffic at Dunedin; but shortly afterwards he suoceeded Mr Conyers as manager—a position which he had held almost uninterruptedly from that time till the present. During these many years Mr Grant's management of the railways had been such as to earn for him the thanks of the business people of Dunedin and to make him a favorite among the people generally. —(Applause.) He was also a favorite among those of the employe's with whom he was brought into contact—proof of which assertion was furnished by the large and representative gathering there assembled, at very short notice, to do honor to their respected friend, and to show him how strong were their feelings of esteem for him and his family.-(Applause.) Nothing that he (Mr Arthur) could say would so well express these feelings as the address which he was about to read. It was at present only in the draft, but in due course it would be engrossed and painted, and when finished would be sent to Mr Grant. The address only spoke the words of truth when it mentioned Mr Grant's invariable kindness and courtesy; he was, in fact, the very embodiment of kindness, and if he had found it inconsistent with the performance of what he conceived to be his duty to recommend certain men's applications for increases of salary he had done it in such a way as to lead the applicant to believe that if he (Mr Grant) had been at liberty to consult his own feelings he would have adopted another course. He had only to say in conclusion that, though the gathering was a large one, it would have been much larger if many of the employes had had longer notice, but as it was the nature of the'r duties and distauce from town prevented their attendance. But they were with them in spirit, and they joined in in wishing Mr Grant every success and happiness in his new sphere of duty, feeling sure that he would there soon earn the goodwill and esteem of everyone with whom he was officially brought in contact.— (Applause.) The toast'was drunk with musical honors, a ringing cheer being given for Mrs Grant and family; Mr Grant said, in reply, that he was a poo? speaker at any time, but on this occasion his djflb cutty was increased, for he was absolutely at a loss to adequately express his sense of the honor done him ami of the many kind things said of him by the chairman. It was exceedingly gratifying to him to see so many of his fellow-workers present to say good-bye to him. But one could not help, ,after spending there the best years of his life, feeling a little vexed at having to leave a district where he bad gained his position, where he had made so many true friends, and where he had family ties that could not be severed without a wrench. Were he a speaker, he should have liked to give them some reminiscences of the early railway history of Otago, but the shortness of the notice of thislittleaffairpreventedhim from carrying out that idea, because every spare moment, since he had received intimation of his transference, had been devoted to making preparations for his departure next day. Trained as he was to discipline, it was his duty to oboy, and having received his marching orders he must go. It was nearly twenty-one years since he became connected with the railway service, having been appointed under Mr Conyers. As the chairman had stated, he was first appointed goods agent agent at Dunedin, but shortly afterwards he became district manager, and with the exception of a short interval at Auckland he had held that position up to the present moment. When he entered the service there was only communication between Dunedin and Green Island and between Dunedin and Port Chalmers—a distance of abqut thirteen miles in all—and he must say that be then thought our railways very strange compared with the railways at Home that he had beeu in the habit of working on. Q" the Port line it was no uncommon thing in those days to see the engine sandwiched between the waggons aud the passenger cars. Indeed, they seemed to be quite indifferent whether the engine went before or behind.—(Laughter.) As illustrating the methods of those " good old times" he showed the first time-table, the original tariff, and the original regulations, which, compared with those now in use, were veritable curiosities. But since tben our railway management had undergone evolution, and, with the single exception of speed, he did not think that we needed to take a leaf out of the book of any other railway system that he had seen.—(Applause) It was only last week that he had a visit from Mr Fyfe—a man of very great experience in connection with railways at Home—who expressed the opinion that the way the railway accounts—especially in Otago—were kept so near perfection was simply marvellous. He (Mr Grant) had only last month's accounts to refer to, but there were multitudes of figures in them, and it was highly satisfactory to know that there was not more than one half error station, (Applause.) His friend, Mr Crombie, knew from past experience what that meant, and he could vouch for the accuracy of his assertion that we had done much when we had been able to bring our system of accounting to such perfection. He had to express his thanks for the kindly references to himself made by the chairman, and for the nice address they had presented to him. He did not think he deserved the compliments paid him, but he felt conscious of having always tried to' do what was right. Sometimes he had to punish men with what appeared like severity, but in coming to a decision he bad always put himselt in the place of the man who was in trouble, and, having done so, he did not think that he could go far wrong. If he had not always been able to comply with requisitions for increases.it was because he had found it impossible to recommend them, considering only those that were really deserving. There could not bo sjll rank and no file; there must be both in this/ as in every service. In leaving Dunedin, lie was proud to be able to leave behind him so many staunch friends; but he was not going to a strange place. He had been in Auckland for six months, and he was very favorably Impressed with both the people and the place. His friends, on heaving of his transference, had asked him: "Is it promotion, or what does it mean?" For himself, he did not know whether the change was promotion or an increase of salary—if it were either of these, be waj at present ignoraut of the fact—but it was certainly pponjotion geographically, for he was going further' no^th.—(Laughter.) However, he was not altogether displeased with the Change, because he had received lots pf kindness and consideration at the hands of the people of Auckland, As to his successor in Dunedin, he desired to say that he had known Mr Arthur for twenty-one years, both as station-master and tvaffln manager at Invercargill, besides as station-master at Dunedin, Mr Arthur was no stranger to his duties, and he was certain that the railway hands would give to him the same loyal support that had been accorded to himself,—(Applause.) It had been very 'easy for him (Mr Grant) to succeed, because he had been surrounded by a staff of able and efficient officers and men—better than whom could not be found in any of the Australian colonies, for they were a body of sober, steady, intelligent railway men. If time had per. mitted him getting up the information lie would have liked to have given them some statistics that would not have been without interest, but he could not do mora than mention these few facts: In the first year that the railways were under his charge the revenue was .£20,000, now it had increased to over" £250,000 ; the total mileage then was only sixteen, now it is nearly 400; and during the whole of these years there had never been one serious accident-at least be had no knowledge of it-or of any passenger having been klMd through the direct fault of the Railway Department. Of course there had been accidents, as there must be on every railway, Hut ouch bad occurred through circumstances purely accidental,'or through the fault of the persons who were the uhfoytumyte victims. In conclusion, he was specially' plsacf d to see such o)d officers as Messrs Crombie, Loring; Day, a#?d For 1 - gyth there that evening, and such a large gathering to honor him with such a send-off. On behalf of Mrs Giant and family lie tendered them their sincere thanks, and wished them, 04a and all, a happy New Year and individual prosperity,— (Loud applause.)

The other toasts were "The Chairman" and .'.' gindred Public Services," proposed by Mr H. J. Diy, and responded to by Messrs Usshee and J. During the evenjnsLsongs were contributed by Messrs W. F, Young, n. ft, Isqaps, and Walnutt, Mr Downes presiding at the piano, * ' .

The address read as follows:~ " On behalf of the employes of the Dunedin section,,we desire to express our sincere regret at your tajnsfer from the district you have been so intimately associated with as traffic manager for the past twenty years, to convey to you their best thanks for the courtesy and uniform kindness received at your hands, ". "We have always found that, while loyally protecting the interests of the department, you have' ever been just and considerate td those r erving.under you. K With best wishes for the future health, happiness, and prosperity or yourself, Mrs Grant, and family." - "■" [Here follow the signatures.]