TRANSCRIPT

'The fate of the then Federal Government was bound up hand and foot with the success of the railway. The British Columbia Government, recognising the great mistake they had made, declared that the concessions would have to be annulled if I did not agree that the turning of the Kootenay river be done away with, and instead of it there should be constructed a small navigable canal, provided with a lock to overcome the difference in the two water levels.

'It was not until the summer of 1887 that the canal plans, officially approved by the two governments, were handed to me. By dint of hard work I completed the canal within the prescribed time limit; it was a job I can honestly recommend to those desirous of committing suicide in a decent, gentlemanly manner.'

[Read by John Hopcraft]