WOMAN ENGINEER.
Mrs Mary Wilkinson, a Toronto octogenarian, believes sho is the only woman ever employed as an engineer an a Canadian railway. Her experience goes back to the days of the Northwest rebellion when she was a pioneer bride at Cartier, Ontario, and North Bay. Mrs Wilkinson went to Canada in 1864. The Atlantic crossing took 45 days—slow time, she says, even in the days of sail. Supplies ran low and passengers and crew were reduced to emergency rations before their vessel docked. Going to North Bay, then a frontier settlement at the end of the railway, Mrs Wilkinson became an unofficial engineer under the tuition of her husband. Mr Wilkinson managed the pumphouse and turntable at North Bay. and he taught his young wife how to operate locomotives and stationary engines. Following her apprenticeship, Mrs Wilkinson told the divisional superintendent she should be paid for her work. He agreed and the next month she began receiving payment for her services.
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Bibliographic details
Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 234, 1 September 1938, Page 16
Word Count
162WOMAN ENGINEER. Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 234, 1 September 1938, Page 16
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