When Sir Josiah C. Stamp was chosen to occupy the high position of president for the London, Midland and Scottish Railway, the company found they had a great leader. His adaptability to environment is one characteristic that makes for his success. It was thus that he was able to score heavily with a Scots audience at Glasgow in a recent speech.

The L.M.S. Railway, Sir Josiah Stamp stated, had 729 miles of line from Euston to Wick, and 430 miles of that stretch were in Scotland earning one-seventh of the receipts, so that Scotland played a by no means negligible part in that great modern phenomenon. As a Glasgow schoolboy said when asked a question in geography, Great Britain was divided into three parts—London, Midland, and Scottish. (Laughter.) In America, where he had been several times in recent years, the railways had a great mileage, but when they asked him about his line he told them that he would not take two and a half billion dollars cash for it, as its value was far more than anything they had in America. When he added that it carried as many passengers as the five biggest lines in Eastern America put together, even the American was prepared to pay them a little respect.

Americans’ Impressions.

He sometimes asked Americans who were travelling on their line what their impressions were, and the curious thing was that they did not speak about the big things, such as speed or the smoothness or distance of the run. Nearly

A Model Railway In An Auckland Suburban Garden.
(Photo W. W. Stewart)
A recent photograph of the model railway built by Mr. F. Roberts in his garden at Epsom, Auckland. The view shews a work train with class D locomotive, passing over a culvert.

always some little thing impressed them—the astonishing civility of a guard, how easily they got a particular booking office, or the quickness with which they got a parcel out of the left luggage room, while, if critical, they would speak about the uncleanliness of a carriage. That, he thought, was a lesson to every member of the staff, to pay attention to the little things, which meant so much for the success of a railway. At Euston about one-fourth or one-fifth of their chief officers were Scots. On the Scottish Committee all the members were Scots, except one or two Englishmen who had a Scottish accent and had been admitted. (Laughter.) On the main board they had four and a half Scottish directors. Four of them he knew were Scots, and the other half he suspected was Scottish, because when he ate haggis he usually showed that he knew what he was about. (Laughter.)

Staff Co-operation.

Referring to the meetings which had been held with the view of securing co-operation among the members of the staff, Sir Josiah Stamp said these had been very successful in Scotland, where the reception accorded the movement had been magnificent. He had been told Scottish people did not like changes and were suspicious of new-fangled ideas. He did not believe that. They might be more careful and watchful, but when they realised it was a good thing they seized upon it more quickly than anybody else. (Laughter and applause.)