" This was better than the _walking stick_ with which a
certain railway officer, who was not too popular with his staff, was, it
is said, presented by them, when he left for a bigger post on another
line.
CHAPTER XX.
THE MIDLAND GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY OF IRELAND
I had now completed one half of my active railway life; reached the age
of 39; and, no longer a rolling stone, was settled in the service of a
company with which I was destined to remain for the rest of my railway
career. That my aspirations were satisfied I do not pretend, for
ambition forbade any settled feeling of rest or content. Happily, my
nature inclined to the sunny side and disappointments never spoiled my
enjoyment of life or marred the pleasure I found in my daily work. My
friend, Edward John Cotton, who, like myself, was an imported Englishman,
had, like me, indulged in dreams of going back to England to fill some
great railway post, but he had reached his sixties and his dreams were
over. Often, when we talked familiarly together, he would say: "Joseph,
if you aspire to be a general manager in England you ought never to have
come to Ireland.
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