ming_ the case against the Companies to have some foundation in
fact and likely to bias neutral opinion against us, and when (after the
hearing was concluded) three of the seven Commissioners reported that the
evidence "led them to doubt whether expansion of traffic had been
retarded," we felt that our view was not without justification. But I am
anticipating the findings of the Commission, and perhaps, after all, the
peculiar Terms of the Reference largely dictated the course of procedure
which the Commission adopted.

The first public sitting was held in Dublin on the 12th of October, 1906,
and the last in the same city on the 29th of January, 1909. There were
95 public sittings in all; and 293 witnesses were examined, 29 of whom
appeared on behalf of the Railway Companies. The Reports of the
Commissioners (for there were two--a Majority and a Minority Report) did
not appear till the 4th of July, 1910, so from the time of its
appointment until the conclusion of its work the Commission covered a
period of four years, all but fourteen days.

During the course of this Inquiry I passed through a crisis in my life.
From more than a year before the Commission was appointed I had been in
most indifferent health, the cause of which doctors both in Dublin and in
London were unable to discover. As time went on I became worse.
Recurring attacks of intense internal pain and constant loss of sleep
worked havoc with my strength; but I held on grimly to my work, and few
there were who knew how I suffered. One day, indeed, at the close of a
sitting of the Commission, Sir John (then Mr.) Aspinall came over to
where I sat, and said: "How ill you have looked all day, Tatlow; what is
wrong?" By the time March, 1907 came round, finding I could go on no
longer, I went to London and saw three medical men, one of whom was the
eminent surgeon, Sir Mayo (then Mr.) Robson. He, happily, discovered the
cause of my trouble, and forthwith operated upon me. It was a severe and
prolonged operation, but saved my life and re-established my health. Not
until late in July was I able to resume work--an enforced absence from
duty of four long months. In this absence my three assistants carried on
the Commission work with great efficiency. It was a trying experience
that I passed through, but from it I gathered some knowledge of what a
man can endure and still perform his daily task, and what the value of
true and sympathetic friendship means to