I trembled inwardly for I had never yet looked at a railway
account, but I took them home, and, as in the case of the Acts of
Parliament, found them simpler than I thought; and, with less trouble
than I expected, succeeded in accomplishing the task.
Mr. Wainwright was himself a skilful statistician and tested everything
he could by the cold logic of figures. I was soon surprised to find that
I too had a taste for statistics and acquired some skill in their
compilation. Up to this I had always imagined that I disliked everything
in the shape of arithmetic. At school I was certainly never fond of it,
and since school my acquaintance with figures had been little more than
the adding up of long columns in huge books at the half-yearly
stocktaking in the stores department at St. Rollox, a thing I detested,
and which invariably gave me a headache. Well pleased was Mr. Wainwright
to see that statistics took my fancy. As general manager he had not much
time himself to devote to them, but the office was now well manned and we
were able to establish, and keep up, tables, statistics and returns
concerning matters of railway working in a way which I have not seen
surpassed.
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