Wainwright's
assistant, I came into close and intimate relationship. They, alas! are
no more. I have outlived them all. Each has played his part, and made,
as we all must do, his exit from the stage of life.
Prominent amongst these officers was John Mathieson, Superintendent of
the Line, who was only twenty-nine when appointed to that responsible
post. We became good friends. He began work at the early age of
thirteen, had grown up on the railway and at nineteen was a station
master. He was skilful in out-door railway work, and an adept in
managing trains and traffic. Ambitious and a bit touchy regarding his
office, all was not always peace between his and other departments,
particularly the goods manager's. The goods manager was not aggressive,
and it was sometimes thought that Mathieson inclined to encroach upon his
territory. Often angry correspondence and sometimes angry discussion
ensued. Yet, take him for all in all, John Mathieson was a fine man with
nothing small in his composition. Soon his ambition was gratified. In
1889 he was appointed Chief Commissioner of the Railways of Queensland;
and after a few years occupation of that post was invited by the
Victorian Government to the same position in connection with the railways
of that important State.
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