LEOD.]

[Illustration: COMMISSIONER LAWRENCE W. HERCHMER.]

It would be impossible to follow that amazing march in detail--that
would take a whole volume, but the main outlines are within our reach.
The officers who led in that remarkable episode in Canadian history
deserve mention, for it has always been a Police tradition that officers
would never ask men to go anywhere where they were not prepared to go
themselves. Personally, or by reputation, at one time or another, I have
known practically all of these officers, and they would all measure up
to requirements, though some would excel others in initiative and
activity. They were Lieut.-Colonel George A. French, Commissioner; Major
James F. MacLeod, C.M.G., Assistant Commissioner; Staff-Dr. J. G.
Kittson, Surgeon; Dr. R. B. Nevitt, Assistant Surgeon; W. G. Griffiths,
Paymaster; G. Dalrymple Clark, Adjutant; John L. Poett, Veterinary
Surgeon; Charles Nicolle, Quarter Master. Division "A": W. D. Jarvis,
Inspector; Severe Gagnon, Sub-Inspector. Division "B": G. A. Brisebois,
Inspector; J. B. Allan, Sub-Inspector. Division "C": W. Winder,
Inspector; T. R. Jackson, Sub-Inspector. Division "D" (Staff Division):
J. M. Walsh, Inspector; J. Walker and J. French, Sub-Inspectors.
Division "E": J. Carvell, Inspector; J. H. McIllree and H. J. N.
LeCaine, Sub-Inspectors. Division "F": L. F. N. Crozier, Inspector; V.
Welsh and C. E. Denny, Sub-Inspectors. These were the originals amongst
the officers, and the originals always attract our special notice. The
Force has been as a whole, wonderfully fortunate in its officers. Here
and there, as in the rank and file, there have been some throughout the
years who were less strenuous and able than others, but their uniformly
high character, and their incorruptibility at the hands of men who were
ready to pay large sums if the Police would look the other way, have
never been questioned. Many of these officers throughout the years might
have become wealthy had they either neglected their duty to take
business investments on the frontier, or had they been susceptible to
anything like bribery. It stands to their credit that those of them who
have passed on, died in comparative poverty, and that those who survive
have nothing but their not too generous pay, or the still less generous
pension allowance.

The original officers above named set a high standard in that famous
march across the wilds in 1874, and they were supported by as gallant
a