d Grenville, a summer
portage road, an early enterprise which retained its independence and
its old five-foot-six-inch gauge until 1912, when it was absorbed by
the Canadian Northern. In Lower Canada the only minor road built which
has not been referred to was the Stanstead, Shefford and Chambly,
opened in 1859 from St Johns to Granby, and forming practically an
extension of the Champlain and St Lawrence from the former point.

[1] As a matter of fact, discussion of this scheme began in St Andrews
in 1827, and in 1828 John Wilson convened a meeting of the citizens to
further it.

[2] The Brassey firm were paid about L9000 sterling a mile for the line
from Toronto to Montreal, L8000 for the section from Quebec to Riviere
du Loup, L6500 for the Quebec and Richmond road, and L1,400,000 for the
Victoria Bridge. Gzowski and Co., consisting of Messrs Gzowski,
Holton, Macpherson, and Galt, secured the Toronto to Sarnia contract at
L8000 a mile. In both cases these prices included equipment. The
English contractors were required to take a large portion of their pay
in depreciated bonds and stock, whereas the Canadian contractors were
given cash; on the other hand, Brassey had a higher price and less
difficult country to work in. The English firm, with all their
experience, were not familiar with building roads in countries where
labour was dear, and the plant they sent out was antiquated compared
with the labour-saving equipment familiar to American and Canadian
contractors. They claimed to have lost a million pounds on their
enterprise, while Galt, Holton, Macpherson, and Gzowski all made
fortunes.

[3] Port Hope borrowed for railway investment $740,000, Cobourg and
Brantford $500,000 each, and Brockville $400,000--all towns of less
than 5000 people. The counties of Lanark and Renfrew borrowed
$800,000, and villages borrowed in proportion. In all some $6,500,000
was borrowed through the Loan Fund for railway purposes alone, the bulk
of it in Upper Canada, while another three million was invested by
towns that borrowed on their own responsibility. To aid the Brockville
and Ottawa Railway, for example, Lanark and Renfrew advanced $800,000,
Brockville $415,000, and the township of Elizabethtown $150,000, or
over half the cost of the road. Huron and Bruce invested $300,000 in
the Buffalo and Lake Huron, and other municipalities $578,000, and so
on throughout the province.

[Illustration: Railways of British