osed road to Montreal, and guaranteed
bonds, while private subscriptions mounted still higher, at least on
paper. More difficulty was experienced in inducing allies in Montreal
to undertake the Canadian half of the road. Before 1845, however,
Montreal {43} business men were convinced that a railway to Portland or
Boston offered them the best means of recovering from the blow
inflicted by the repeal of the British preference on Canadian wheat and
flour. If Montreal could not be the New York of Canada, it might at
least occupy the position which Buffalo was now achieving, gathering
all the trade of the interior to forward it in summer and especially in
winter over the new road. The advantage of such a line in the
development of the Eastern Townships was also evident.

The only question in dispute in Canada was as to the relative merits of
the Boston and the Portland route. The superior energy of the Portland
promoters weighed down the scale in favour of their city. In February
1845 Poor struggled five days through a north-east blizzard, and
reached Montreal just in time to turn the vote of the Board of Trade
against Boston. He organized a spectacular race of express sleighs to
disprove the claim that, though the British packet called at Portland
before going on to Boston, the route by Boston would prove speedier.
Relays of teams were provided all along the rival roads from Boston and
from Portland, five to fifteen miles apart; evergreen bushes {44} were
set up in the snow to mark the road; part of the Montreal mail was
taken off at Portland, and part at Boston, and dispatched by the rival
couriers. The Portland relay covered the distance, nearly three
hundred miles, in twenty hours, and dashed into Montreal, with all
colours flying, twelve hours ahead of the Boston contingent. The
cheers that greeted the victors marked the definite turn of popular
favour toward the Portland route. Two allied companies were
incorporated--the Atlantic and St Lawrence to build the United States
section of the railway, and the St Lawrence and Atlantic to build from
Montreal to the border.

The St Lawrence and Atlantic was a valuable medium of experience, if
not of traffic. In its management were found the leading business men
of Montreal, such as Moffat, M'Gill, Molson, Stayner, and Torrance. At
first all was fair. Subscriptions came in freely from Montreal and the
Eastern Townships. One of the youngest of the directors, Alexan