Part 59

=Gwatkin, Major-General W. G.= (Ottawa, Ont.), has been connected with the military system of Canada since 1905. Except for rather less than two years—between 1909 and 1911—his service with it has been continuous, and he has been intimately concerned alike with the preparations which were made for the Great War and with the staff work at Headquarters during the course of the war. A Cambridge University man, he joined the Manchester Regiment in 1882, and served as Subaltern, Adjutant, Company Commander and Second in Command; in 1894 he passed the Staff College; and in 1898 he began a long career on the Staff. Early in 1899 he went to the War Office to work in what ultimately became the Mobilization Section, the organ of the War Office which had a great deal to do, first, with the rapid and efficient supply of troops to South Africa, and afterwards with the careful preparations which enabled the regular army to show to such advantage in France. In the War Office during this period he served under Colonel (now Lieut.-General) Sir Percy Lake. In 1904, General Lake came to Canada to be the first Chief of the General Staff, and in 1905 he brought Colonel Gwatkin (who had been serving with his regiment in South Africa) to Ottawa to serve as Director of Operations and Staff Duties—in other words, to be his principal technical assistant. The reorganization of the Canadian Militia which followed the South African War was beginning. In the years between 1904 and 1914 the Militia force was remodelled, and a staff system was founded which proved able to carry through the work of raising and sending overseas an army of half a million men. Colonel Gwatkin’s services were so highly regarded that the Minister of Militia specially asked the War Office for an extension of his services, and he remained in Canada, not for the regulation three years, but for four. After a period of staff service in England his services were again requested by the Canadian Government, and he came to Canada early in 1911. At that time the military authorities of the Empire had become seriously apprehensive of war with Germany, and Colonel Gwatkin’s work largely comprised such measures of organization for this emergency as were undertaken in the circumstances. In particular he drew up complete plans for the raising and despatch of a contingent to England in the event of a war in Europe in which Canada might wish to participate. The plan drawn up anticipated a large number of the points which arose when the war actually came. In November, 1913, he succeeded Major-General C. J. MacKenzie as Chief of the General Staff. He was filling this post when the war came. The work done in the Militia Department in preparation for such an eventuality proved of the utmost service. Cable censorship was established, harbours were closed, dangerous points were guarded, the transition from peace to a war which the general public had not expected was made with remarkable smoothness. When the first contingent sailed General Gwatkin was desired by the Government to stay at Militia Headquarters to keep the machine working. During the entire course of the war he performed enormous labours. To recruit, give preliminary training to and ship overseas so large an army meant administrative ability of a very high order and the discharge of an immense amount of thankless labour. He has done his work to the high satisfaction of the Government of Canada, whose principal military adviser he has been. It showed its appreciation of his services by insisting on retaining him, though the Imperial Government repeatedly expressed a desire to recall him for service in Great Britain or France. The details of his career are as follows:—Major-General Willoughby Garnons Gwatkin, C.B., C.M.G., born August 11, 1859; was appointed Lieutenant Manchester Regiment May 10, 1882; Adjutant, Manchester Regiment, April 18, 1888, to April 17, 1892; Captain, Manchester Regiment, January 17, 1890; Major, Manchester Regiment, April 7, 1900; Brevet Lieut.-Colonel, January 6, 1904; Brevet Colonel November 20, 1907; Major-General, October 21, 1914. Staff appointments—Staff Captain Egypt, January 24, 1898, to April 20, 1898; Staff Captain, Headquarters of Army, March 11, 1899, to January 10, 1900; D.A.A.G., H.Q. of Army (temp.) January 11, 1900 to January 21, 1901; Staff Captain (Mobilization) H.Q. of Army, January 22, 1901, to October 14, 1902; D.A.Q.M.G. (Mobilization) H.Q. of Army, October 15, 1902, to October 31, 1903; Director of Operations and Staff Duties (General Staff Officer 2nd Grade) Canadian Militia, October 5, 1905, to October 20, 1909; General Staff Officer 1st grade Eastern Command, March 5, 1910, to February 28, 1911; General Staff Officer (Mobilization) 1st Grade Militia H.Q., Canada, July 14, 1911, to October 31, 1913; Chief of the General Staff and 1st Military Member of the Militia Council, Dominion of Canada, November 1, 1913. General Gwatkin is the fourth son of the late Frederick Gwatkin of New Square, Lincoln’s Inn, London, W.C., and Grove House, Twickenham, and Louisa Isabella, younger daughter of the Rev. Ambrose Stapleton, vicar of East Budleigh, Devonshire. He was educated at Shrewsbury School, at King’s College, Cambridge, and at R.M.C., Sandhurst. In 1916 he was created C.B. (Civil), C.M.G. in 1918 and Order of St. Sava of Serbia in 1918.

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=Ross, John Theodore, B.A.= (Quebec), is one of the leading capitalists of the city. He was born in that city on Nov. 30, 1862, the son of the late John Ross, a prominent merchant and his wife, Anne Runcie. The late Senator J. G. Ross was his uncle. He was educated at Quebec High School, at Morrin College and at McGill University, Montreal, from which latter institution he graduated with the degree of B.A. in 1883. He entered the wholesale business firm of his father, known as John Ross & Co., in 1884, and was admitted to full partnership in 1887, continuing in this capacity until 1894 when the firm was liquidated. Since then he has been widely engaged in financial and commercial operations. He was elected Vice-President of the Quebec Bank in 1897 and President in 1908. On its amalgamation with the Royal Bank of Canada some years later he became a Director of the latter institution. Among his many other interests is that of President of the Chronicle Printing Company, which publishes the “Quebec Chronicle,” one of the historic newspapers of Eastern Canada. His other commercial interests have at various times embraced the Quebec Steamship Company, the Montmorency Cotton Mills Company, the McArthur Export Company, The Quebec Improvement Company, the Trans-Canada Railway Co., the Pacific Pass Coalfields, Ltd., the Quebec Transport Company, the North Pacific Lumber Company. He has also taken a deep interest in public and philanthropic affairs. He is a member of the Quebec Board of Trade and Chairman of the Quebec High School Board, Vice-President of the Literary and Historical Society, Quebec, President of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and President of the Jeffrey Hale Hospital. In religion he is a Presbyterian, and in politics a Conservative. He is a member of the Garrison Club, Quebec, and his recreations are driving and tennis. On April 15, 1896, he married Mabel Kate, daughter of John Burstall, Quebec, and has two sons and two daughters. He resides on St. Louis Road, Quebec.

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=Rogers, John Morrison= (Ingersoll, Ont.), physician and surgeon, has been active in the Liberal Party for a number of years, being Liberal nominee for the Legislative Assembly in his constituency at the present time. He is the son of Thomas and Margaret Rogers, and was born at Mount Forest, Ont., in 1867, where he received his early education, afterwards graduating from Toronto University in 1893. Dr. Rogers married Edythe B., daughter of J. B. Hambridge, Aylmer, Ont., in 1902, and has three sons: John Reginald, Donald Morrison, and William Parke. He is a member of the Ontario Medical Association, Vice-President Western Liberal Association, the Ingersoll Curling Club, and the Ingersoll Bowling Club. In religion he is a Presbyterian.

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=Colquhoun, Arthur Hugh Urquhart, B.A., LL.D.=, Deputy Minister of Education for the Province of Ontario, was born at Montreal on December 2, 1861, the son of the late Walter Colquhoun (a native of Dumbartonshire, Scotland,) and his wife Jane, daughter of William Clarke, Niagara, Ont., and relict of Charles Richardson, M.P. He was educated at Cornwall Public School, Montreal High School (where he won the Murray Medal for proficiency and the Governor-General’s Medal for literature and history) and McGill University, from which he graduated in 1885 with the degree of B.A., first class honors in English literature and history, and the Shakespeare gold medal. During his student days he took up the calling of journalism and joined the editorial staff of the “Montreal Star” in 1881. In 1883 he was entrusted with the post of editor-in-chief of the “Montreal Weekly Star,” and at the same time edited the “McGill University Gazette.” In 1886 he went to Ottawa and accepted the post of editor of the “Journal” of that city. In 1887, when the leaders of the Conservative government founded the “Toronto Empire” as chief organ of the party, he was appointed assistant editor and has ever since made Toronto his home. In 1891, he was appointed managing editor of the “Empire” and continued in that capacity until its amalgamation with the “Mail” in 1895. In the latter year, he entered the growing field of trade journalism with Col. J. B. Maclean, and until 1902 edited the “Printer and Publisher” and the “Dry Goods Review.” In 1902, he joined the staff of the “Mail and Empire” as editorial writer, and early in 1903, when Mr. J. S. (now Sir John) Willison reorganized the “Toronto News,” he became news editor of that publication, and helped to make the paper temporarily famous for the literary distinction and importance of its news columns. From the outset of the political career of the late Sir James Whitney, Mr. Colquhoun had been his close personal friend and adviser. One of the pledges of that statesman while leader of the opposition in the Ontario Legislature was a reorganization of the educational system from top to bottom, and shortly after his elevation to the post of Prime Minister in 1905 he appointed a Royal Commission of distinguished men to enquire into the affairs of the provincial university at Toronto. At the request of Mr. Whitney, Mr. Colquhoun accepted the position of secretary of the commission, and had much to do with the drafting of its report, which proved to be one of the most important documents of its kind produced in this country. In recognition of his services in this capacity, the University conferred on him the honorary degree of LL.D. in 1906. In the latter year he was also appointed Deputy Minister of Education, a position he still holds, and was largely instrumental in putting into effect the reforms promised by Sir James Whitney. In 1908, he was offered and declined the post of Chief Librarian of the city of Toronto. Among the earlier positions that he held was that of Chairman of the Press Committee of the British Association when it met at Toronto in 1897, an occasion which brought to Canada many of the great scientists of that day. He was also elected President of the Canadian Press Association for 1906-7. Both before and since his retirement from journalism, Mr. Colquhoun has been a frequent contributor, chiefly on historical themes, to magazines and reviews, including “The Canadian Magazine,” “The University Magazine,” “The British Empire Review,” and “Queen’s Quarterly.” On the political history of the provinces of Canada, he is a recognized authority; and his published works include “The History of Canadian Press Association”; the volume on the Fathers of Confederation in “The Chronicles of Canada,” and “Memoir of Senator Gowan, C.M.G.” (which he edited). His books are marked by purity of diction, and shrewd and moderate judgments on men and events. Mr. Colquhoun is a member of the Toronto Club and the Toronto Golf Club, and resides at 342 Walmer Road, Toronto.

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=Miller, Lieut.-Colonel John Bellamy=, Manufacturer (Toronto, Ont.), President of the Polson Iron Works, Limited, and Parry Sound Lumber Company, is the son of John Clausin Miller, Lumberman, Parry Sound, Ont., and Adelaide Augusta Chamberlain; was born at Farmersville (now Athens), July 26, 1862, and received his education at the Model School, Toronto, and Upper Canada College. Following his educational training, Mr. Miller entered the lumber business with the Parry Sound Lumber Co. as clerk, and while holding this position, mastered every detail of lumber manufacturing. In 1883, following his father’s death, John B. Miller took complete charge of the business and was made president of the Company, which position he still holds. He is also president of the Polson Iron Works, Limited, of Toronto, and holds a like position in the Polson Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Co. of Toronto. Added to the above Mr. Miller is president of the Consumers Box Company of Toronto, and was largely instrumental in the formation of the Canadian Lumbermen’s Association, of which he is past-president. Mr. Miller holds membership in the following clubs: National Ontario, R.C.Y.C., Rosedale Golf, Scarboro Golf, Ontario Jockey Club, Canadian Military Institute, Aero Club of Canada, all of Toronto; the Rideau Club, of Ottawa; Junior Army & Navy Club, London, Eng.; Aero Club of America, New York; Royal Colonial Institute, London; Associate of Institute of Naval Architects of London, Eng. Mr. Miller was married October 3rd, 1883, to Hannah Pollock Hunter. Mrs. Miller died in 1893. By this marriage there were two sons, John Clausin Miller and Henry H. Miller. Mr. Miller’s second marriage took place September 22nd, 1897, to Jessie Thompson, of Longford, Ont., a daughter of the late John Thompson, a prominent Lumberman of that place. One daughter survives this union, Margaret Lumsden Miller, together with Capt. H. H. Miller, son of the first marriage. Mr. Miller has the honor of being Lieut.-Col. of the 23rd Regiment of Northern Pioneers, with Headquarters at Parry Sound; is a Liberal in politics and his favorite recreations are golf, shooting and fishing; resides at 98 Wellesley Street, and has his office at Polson Iron Works.

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=Nasmith, Colonel George Gallie= (Toronto, Ont.), who already enjoyed a high reputation throughout Canada as a sanitary expert, has won added distinction in the European War through brilliant services in his special field. He was made Lieutenant-Colonel, August, 1914 (Colonel in April, 1917), and Officer Commanding the Hydrological Corps, in which capacity he had charge of the purification of the water supply at the new Valcartier Military Camp during the mobilization of the First Contingent. He was sent to England as adviser in sanitation in charge of water purifications with the first contingent. While on Salisbury Plain, he was useful in getting the remainder of the contingent inoculated against typhoid; in installing a laboratory for the control of cerebro-spinal meningitis, and in training men in the purification of water. Colonel Nasmith was sent to France in March, 1915, as O.C. No. 5 (Canadian) Mobile Laboratory, where he conceived the idea of a mobile filter unit for purifying any water supply, which has since been adopted by the war office, and is now in general use among the British armies in France, Mesopotamia, and elsewhere. He was present at the second battle of Ypres, and saw the gas being discharged by the Germans for the first time. He diagnosed its composition correctly, and reported it to General Army Headquarters, recommending the use of masks to cover the face and nose, saturated with hyposulphite of soda to absorb the gas. These were adopted until experience enabled a more perfect type to be elaborated. Other recommendations made by him in regard to gas and water purification were also adopted. He was the representative of Canada on the War Allies Sanitary Commission which met in Paris during 1916. In January, 1916, he was mentioned in despatches, and made C.M.G. for services in the field, being decorated by the King. Colonel Nasmith is a Baptist in religion, and a Conservative in politics. He is a member of the Academy of Medicine, of the American and Canadian Public Health Associations, the Arts and Letters Club, and the Engineers Club, of Toronto. Obtained the Diploma of Public Health from Toronto University in 1918. He has published numerous general papers on foods, milk, water purification, and sewage disposal, as well as conducting researches which are embodied in the following papers:—“The Hæmatology of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning,” “Changes Induced in the Blood of Guinea Pigs in an Atmosphere of Coal Gas,” “A Simple Method of Purifying Almost any Water Supply,” “A New Type of Trickling Filter,” “A Mobile Filter of Large Capacity Suggested for Use in the British Army,” “The Chemistry of Wheat Gluten,” and “Wind Driven Currents in the Great Lakes.” He is also author of “On the Fringe of the Great Fight,” published 1918, and “Canada’s Sons and Great Britain in the Great War,” published 1919. Colonel Nasmith is greatly interested in music, painting, and the drama, as well as in horticulture and sailing. From 1903 to 1909 he was Chemist to the Provincial Board of Health of Ontario, and from 1909 to date Director of Laboratories, Department of Health, Toronto. He was born in Toronto in 1877, the son of Mungo Nasmith, of Greenock, Scotland, and Jane Morrow, of Bath, England. He was educated at Jarvis Street Collegiate and the University of Toronto, graduating as a B.A. in 1900 and as M.A. and Ph.D. in 1903, also receiving the Honorary Degree of D.Sc. in 1917 from his alma mater in recognition of his scientific work with the British Army in France. Colonel Nasmith married Mrs. Scott Roff, Principal of the Margaret Eaton School of Literature and Expression, and daughter of the late Rev. James Scott, Owen Sound, Ontario, in 1916.

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=Flynn, Edmund James=, Judge of the Superior Court (Quebec City, Que.), is the son of the late James Flynn and Elizabeth Tostivin, and was born in Percé, Shiretown of Gaspé County, November 16, 1847. After a distinguished career at Quebec Seminary and Laval University, he graduated from the latter institution of learning in 1873 with the degree of LL.L., receiving the higher honor of LL.D. in 1878. Mr. Justice Flynn has been prominent in Provincial politics during a public life of some thirty years, during which time he was M.L.A. for the constituencies of Gaspé and Nicolet respectively, and held office successively as Commissioner of Crown Lands, Minister of Railways, Solicitor-General and Commissioner of Public Works in various Liberal-Conservative Administrations; from May, 1896, to May, 1897, he was Prime Minister of Quebec. From 1897 to 1904, he was leader of the Opposition. In 1908, he was candidate for House of Commons in Dorchester Co., but was defeated by a comparatively small majority. Between the years 1874 and 1914 when he received his appointment as Judge, Mr. Flynn was a practising lawyer at the Quebec Bar and Professor of Roman Law in Laval, of which University he is to-day Dean in the Faculty of Law; having also been Batonnier of the Quebec Bar. A Roman Catholic in religion, Judge Flynn married Augustine, daughter of the late Augustin Cote, Editor of the “Journal de Quebec,” in 1875, by whom he has had eleven children; those surviving are Amelia, wife of Lt.-Col. Chauveau, K.C., Edmund, C.P.R. Ticket Agent; Percy, Capt. Adjt., 10th Reserve Batt., C.E.F.; and Beatrice. After the decease of his first wife he married Cecile Pouliot, widow of Eugene Globensky, of Montreal, in 1912.

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=Willis, James E.= (Whitby, Ont.), is one of the best known and progressive citizens of that town. At present he holds the position of police magistrate for the town, but has been identified with public affairs in various capacities for some years past. While still comparatively young in years, he built up a successful position in the business world, and at the time of his appointment to his legal office in 1918, filled the office of President of the Whitby Board of Trade. He has also taken an active part in municipal affairs, and held the office of Mayor of the town for two terms. Another office which he has filled with success is that of Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of the town. It was while Mayor of Whitby that he became identified with the movement to extend the scope and usefulness of the hydro-electric system of Ontario. It was the desire of Sir Adam Beck and his chief lieutenants that the system already so widely used for manufacturing, municipal and domestic purposes should be augmented by a great network of radial railways. Under Mayor Willis’s advice, the town of Whitby was the first municipality in Ontario to avail itself of these proposals by extending municipal support to a hydro-electric radial railway linking up Toronto with the towns of Whitby, Markham and Port Perry; and it is expected that the road when constructed and put in operation will do much for the entire section immediately east of Toronto. Another local enterprise which was in the main due to Mr. Willis’s progressive spirit was the installing of a sewerage system, which was essential to the establishment near the town of Whitby of a great provincial hospital for the insane, which, during the war was turned over to the military authorities, and was the largest soldiers’ hospital in the Dominion of Canada. When the plans which Mr. Willis has done so much to promote are carried out, Whitby will have a close suburban connection by electric railway with Toronto, and it is expected will become an important residential centre for the wealthier families of that city. When the late Major Harper, who had formerly served as police magistrate, passed away in 1918, the Attorney-General of Ontario appointed Mr. Willis his successor; and the choice was applauded not merely locally, but in wider circles where the activities of Mr. Willis for the development of Whitby had rendered his name familiar. He is recognized as one of the most forceful and progressive municipal authorities in Canada. In his younger days he took an active interest in outdoor sports, such as foot racing, cricket, baseball, and was secretary of the Whitby Curling Club for many years, and took part as skip in many Tankard and friendly matches. He has been from his youth a reader, and is one of the best posted men on general and scientific subjects in his native town. It has been his policy to strongly advocate any movement that would be for the good and uplifting of the people as a whole; and he has often been heard to say: “I wish I could do some lasting good for my fellow man, and leave the world a little better than I found it. If I can do no permanent and lasting good, I feel that I have lived in vain.”

[Illustration: ORVILLE B. SHORTLY, TORONTO WILLIAM MCINENLY, OTTAWA]