of faithful service. His place was taken by Sir Charles
Rivers-Wilson, who had a record of efficient {200} service on the
borders of politics and finance. The new president and a committee of
directors made a thorough investigation of the Grand Trunk, and
recommended some immediate improvements. Their chief contribution to
its success, however, was the discovery of Charles M. Hays.

[Illustration: Charles Melville Hays. From a photograph by Notman]

The great rival of the Grand Trunk had pressed forward to prosperity
under the driving power of an American general manager. The new
administration decided that it, too, would look to the United States
for a chief executive of the ruthless efficiency and modern methods
which the crisis demanded. They found him in the man who had pulled
the Wabash out of a similar slough of despond. Mr Hays was not quite
forty when, in 1895, he was appointed general manager of the Grand
Trunk. He had risen rapidly since the days when, a boy of seventeen,
he had entered the office of the Atlantic and Pacific. At twenty-nine
he had been secretary to the general manager, and three years later
manager himself, of the Wabash.

His presence was soon felt. The staff realized, some with relief, some
with consternation, that the good old leisurely days, the days of
vested interests, were gone. {201} Many were pensioned, some were
dismissed. In some cases American officials were imported to fill the
vacant posts, to the patriotic discontent of the old guard. Equipment
was overhauled, larger freight cars were ordered, and new terminals
acquired. The main bridges on the road--the Suspension at Niagara
Falls, the International at Fort Erie, and the Victoria at
Montreal--were all rebuilt on a larger scale between 1896 and 1901.
The double tracking of the main line from Montreal westward was
continued, and many of the sharp curves and heavy grades of the
original construction were revised. Elevators at Portland, Montreal,
Midland, Tiffin, Goderich, Point Edward, and Fort William were built or
acquired. Trains came in on time. The whole system was 'speeded up.'

Later changes in the administration may be briefly summarized here. In
1900 Mr Hays's five-year contract as general manager expired. At the
same juncture a vacancy occurred in the presidency of the Southern
Pacific, which had fallen on evil days, and Hays was offered and
accepted the post at four times his salary with the Grand