OLDEST ENGINE-DRIVER IN TUB WORLD.

Evening Star, Issue 12763, 16 March 1906, Page 7

OLDEST ENGINE-DRIVER IN TUB WORLD.

On January 1 last (says lie ‘ Bnfialo Inquirer ’) old Enoch Brown, tall, stalwart, and healthy, closed his life’s labors, and now lives a quiet, 1 retired existence among his friends and neighbors in the sleepy hamlet of Amagaria, Ontario. Brown, who bghtly carries his seventy-nine years’ ot toil, holds the undisputed distinction ot, being the oldest locomotive engineer in the world. He is ’a native of Manchester, and was .born in the days when many people scorned the idea 'of railways ever be mg ot practical use. ' He was first employed on the old London and Birmingham line when the work was hard and troublesome, and after seven years’ successful experience as an engineer, at the age of twenty-eight, he was_ seized with the desire to cross the-At-lantic, and emigrated to Canada in 1857, immediately securing an appointment on the old Great Western of Canada, where he worked as engineer between Niagara Falls and Windsor, Ontario, The present Grand Trunk Railway bought up the • lines where he worked, and his familiarity with the iron steeds', which had been his lifelong companions, brought about his appointment in 1872 as foreman of the engine department of the Grand Trunk Gdmpany. " He held the appointment for a quarter of a century, and at the age of seventy-one found himself entitled to a pension and retirement. But he, could nob leave his old occupation, so he decided to go on working. He was promptly given the important position of operating tlie car which .crosses the International Bridge. For eight years this fine-looking, grey-whiskered engineer was daily seen at his duty, but now, after manfully fulfilling has allotted task, he has gone to end his days in the repose which he so honestly earned and deserves.