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 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.)