,
except that I recall a little arbitration case in which I was engaged. It
was during the summer, in July I think. The Grand Canal (not the canal
which belongs to the Midland and is called the Royal) is a waterway which
traverses 340 miles of country. Not that it is all canal proper, some of
it being canalised river and loughs; but 154 miles are canal pure and
simple, the undisputed property of the Grand Canal Company. On a part of
the river Barrow which is canalised, an accident happened, and a trader's
barge was sunk and goods seriously damaged. Dispute arose as to
liability, and I was called on to arbitrate. To view the scene of the
disaster was a pleasant necessity, and the then manager of the company
(Mr. Kirkland) suggested making a sort of picnic of the occasion; so one
morning we left the train at Carlow, from whence a good stout horse
towed, at a steady trot, a comfortable boat for twenty miles or so to the
_locus_ of the accident. We were a party of four, not to mention the
hamper. It was delightfully wooded scenery through which we passed, and
a snug little spot where we lunched. After lunch and the arbitration
proceedings had been despatched, our Pegasus towed us back.

I must return again to Robertson, the Board of Works, and light railways.
Preliminary to the authorisation of light railways in Ireland, the
legislation which had been passed concerning them required that the Board
of Works should appoint fit and proper persons to make public inquiry
regarding the merits of proposed lines, as to engineering, finance,
construction, the favour or objection with which they were regarded by
landowners and others, the amount of capital required, the assistance
that would be given by landowners, local authorities and others towards
their construction, and their merit generally from all points of view;
such fit persons after they had done all this, to report to the Board of
Works. In 1897 Robertson thought that "Joseph Tatlow of Dublin, and
William Roberts of Inverness, were fit and proper persons" for conducting
the necessary inquiry concerning a proposed light railway in north-west
Donegal, from Letterkenny to Burtonport, a distance of 50 miles. William
Roberts was the Engineer of the Highland Railway of Scotland, a capable,
energetic, practical man, and a canny Scot. This line was promoted by
the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Company. Roberts and I gladly
undertook the work. We held public me